Meet Our Honorary Degree Recipients

Deborah Quazzo

April 25, 2026, at New York City Commencement
Lives in: Chicago, IL

Deborah Quazzo is the Managing Partner of GSV Ventures, a venture fund investing in education and workforce skills technologies that are disrupting the $7 trillion global sector. The fund invests globally - primarily in the US and India. Ms. Quazzo has been named to Insider's list of top 100 seed investors three times. In addition, she is co-founder of the ASU+GSV Summit, the preeminent gathering of leaders in education and workforce skilling. Now in its 17th year, the ASU+GSV Summit celebrates innovations and innovators, and attracts over 7,000 leaders from "Prek to Gray" education and workforce skills. Ms. Quazzo serves on the boards of Ascend Learning, Degreed, Dreamscape Learn, Ellucian, Kyron Learning, Turnitin and Uplimit.

She is a member of the board of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. She serves on the GEMS Global Schools Prize Council and The Dean's Leadership Council Advisory Committee at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Ms. Quazzo graduated cum laude with a B.A. in history from Princeton University in 1982 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1987. She and her husband, Stephen, live in Chicago and have three children and three grandchildren.

Jay Timmons

April 25, 2026, at New York City Commencement

Jay Timmons is president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, the largest manufacturing association in the United States and the most influential voice for the 13 million men and women who make things in America.

One of the longest-serving trade association CEOs in the country, Mr. Timmons is a trusted leader among business and political circles alike—widely recognized for helping manufacturers achieve the policy wins that have shaped the American economy over the past decade. Under his leadership, the NAM has doubled in size and delivered landmark victories, including historic tax reform, regulatory modernization, landmark investment in infrastructure and reshaped the perception of manufacturing and manufacturing careers in the U.S.

Mr. Timmons has also built the NAM into a full-scale platform for the industry, expanding legal advocacy, strengthening its voice in the courts and the public square, and advancing workforce programs that are now national models. As chair of the Manufacturing Institute, he has led efforts to close the skills gap and connect more Americans with careers in modern manufacturing.

Mr. Timmons’ leadership is grounded in the NAM’s founding values: free enterprise, competitiveness, individual liberty and equal opportunity.

John R. Ingram

November 15, 2025, at Atlanta Commencement
Lives in: Nashville, TN

John R. Ingram was named Chairman of the Ingram Industries Inc. Board of Directors in 2008, having served as Vice Chairman of the Board since 1999. He is also the lead owner of Nashville SC and the Chairman of Ingram Content Group LLC.

Mr. Ingram is a graduate of Princeton University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English in 1984. In 1986, he received his Master of Business Administration from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.

Mr. Ingram joined Ingram Industries Inc. in 1986, serving early in his career as the Assistant Treasurer and also as President of Tennessee Book Company (which became part of Ingram Content Group LLC in 2009). He later served as President of Ingram Book Company, Vice President of Purchasing for Ingram Micro Europe and Director of Purchasing for Ingram Micro Inc. He served as a member of the Ingram Micro Inc. Board of Directors from 1996 to 2016.

In 2017, as lead investor, Mr. Ingram spearheaded the effort to bring Major League Soccer to Nashville. In December of that year, the MLS Board of Governors awarded the city of Nashville an expansion team, a huge success for the city and Nashville soccer fans. Nashville Soccer Club opened their brand new, 30,000 person stadium–the largest soccer stadium in the United States–on May 1, 2022.

Also in 2022, Mr. Ingram was named Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Tennessean of the Year for his efforts to further the cause of athletics across the state. He continues to be active in a number of other civic, educational and charitable causes. He is a member of the Board of Trust for both the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Montgomery Bell Academy. He actively supports Vanderbilt Athletics and Currey Ingram Academy. He is Chair of the Tennessee Advisory Board of Western Governors University and the Tennessee Business Leadership Council.

Mr. Ingram is married with four children.

Dr. Bridget Long

August 23, 2025, at Boston Commencement

Bridget Terry Long is a Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and the Saris Professor of Education and Economics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). She is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Education, and the International Academy of Education. Long is an economist whose work focuses on improving educational opportunities and student success with a focus on the transition to higher education and beyond. Her work has provided evidence on financial aid policies, postsecondary remedial education, and college support programs.  She has also developed and evaluated interventions that help students complete financial aid forms, save for college, and persist in higher education.

Long served as Dean of HGSE from 2018 to 2024 and led the school through a major redesign of their master’s program, the COVID pandemic, and the creation of its first online master’s degree. She also substantially increased student financial aid through a successful fundraising initiative, and she expanded HGSE’s external engagement with practitioners, leaders, and communities around the world. She served as Academic Dean from 2013 to 2017 and Faculty Director of the Ed.D. and Ph.D. programs from 2010 to 2013. 

Long is the Chair of the Board of Directors for MDRC, a founding Board Member of Axim Collaborative, and a member of the Board for the Red Sox Foundation. She is co-Chair of the Commission on Opportunities After High School, sponsored by the American Academy. During the Obama administration, she served as Chair of National Board for Education Sciences, the advisory panel of the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education.  She has testified numerous times before U.S. Senate Committees and state governmental bodies, and she was a Visiting Fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. 

Long has won numerous competitive research grants, including from including from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and the National Science Foundation (NSF). She was awarded the Peter H. Rossi Award for Contributions to the Theory or Practice of Program Evaluation from APPAM, the Spencer Foundation Mentor Award, and the Robert P. Huff Golden Quill Award for excellence in research and published works on student financial assistance. Long earned her Ph.D. and M.A. from the Harvard University Department of Economics and her A.B. from Princeton University in Economics with a Certificate in Afro-American Studies. 

Barbara Humpton

July 19, 2025, at Seattle Commencement
Lives in: Reston, VA

Barbara Humpton is President and CEO of Siemens Corporation, where she guides the company’s strategy and engagement in serving the company’s largest market. Siemens USA employs approximately 45,000 employees in 50 states and Puerto Rico and generated $21.1 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2024. She views the true purpose of technology as expanding what’s humanly possible. She’s also passionate about diversity, STEM education, and what she calls a work life blend that honors her priorities, both at Siemens and as a grandmother.

Most recently, Humpton served as president and CEO of Siemens Government Technologies, Inc. (SGT), a leading integrator of Siemens’ products and services for federal government agencies and departments. In this role, Humpton also served as an officer/director member of SGT’s board of directors.

Prior to joining Siemens in 2011, Humpton served as a vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, where she was responsible for program performance and new business development for technology consulting in the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security. Earlier, Humpton was a vice president at Lockheed Martin Corporation with responsibility for Biometrics Programs, Border and Transportation Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection, including such critical programs as the FBI’s Next Generation Identification and the TSA’s Transportation Workers’ Identification Credential.

Humpton is a graduate of Wake Forest University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. She is Chairman of the Siemens Corporation Board, the Siemens Foundation and of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). She serves on the board of directors of the Triumph Group, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP), Consumer Technology Association Board of Industry Leaders, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, and Economic Club of Washington, D.C. She resides in Reston, Virginia, with her husband David.

David Simmons

April 26, 2025, at Las Vegas Commencement
Lives in: Salt Lake City, UT

With a distinguished 40-year career spanning media, communications, and travel management, David Simmons has built and led transformative organizations that have reshaped their industries.

Previously, as CEO of Simmons Media Group, he expanded the company’s influence in radio broadcasting and outdoor advertising. As chairman and CEO of Keystone Communications, he led its evolution into a global satellite communications firm. Currently, he oversees his private investment firm, leveraging his expertise to drive strategic growth and innovation, and is also the co-chairman of M-Plus Global Events, a premier travel management company.

Mr. Simmons' impact extends beyond business into economic development and education. He served for 18 years on the Western Governors University Board of Trustees (2006–2024), where he played a key role in advancing the institution’s mission of accessible, high-quality education. He served for nearly two decades on the board of trustees of Westminster University and was chairman of the Utah State Board of Business and Economic Development, the Utah Sports Commission, Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and the Olene Walker Institute of Public Policy at Weber State University.

Mr. Simmons earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Utah and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife, Melinda, and their five children, and has a love for American history and international perspectives.

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP

March 8, 2025, at Dallas Commencement
Lives in: Alexandria, VA

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., is a lawyer, author, board member, public speaker, and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).  With nearly 340,000 members in 180 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally.

As a global leader on the future of employment, culture, and leadership, Mr. Taylor is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work, workers, and the workplace. Recognized as one of the “300 Most Influential Executives in Corporate America” for 2024 by Savoy Magazine and one of the “Most Influential People Shaping Public Policy” in our nation’s capital by Washingtonian Magazine, Mr. Taylor is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors the weekly USA Today column, “Ask HR.”

Mr. Taylor’s career spans more than 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive, and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit spaces.