Former Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough, Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan and General Phillip Breedlove will address Georgia Tech’s 249th commencement ceremonies. Approximately 2,700 graduates will participate in three ceremonies with Clough addressing the master’s and Ph.D. ceremony on Friday, May 1, at 7 p.m.; Duncan addressing the morning bachelor’s ceremony Saturday, May 2, at 9 a.m.; and Breedlove addressing the afternoon bachelor’s ceremony at 3 p.m.

Clough was the 12th secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He launched a new era there, expanding the Smithsonian's global relevance and helping the nation shape its future through research, education and scientific discovery on major topics of the day.

One of his first initiatives led to a new strategic plan that speaks to four grand challenges that will bring together the diverse resources of the Smithsonian's museums and science centers through interdisciplinary approaches.

Ensuring that the Institution's vast collection is accessible and available to everyone was a priority for Clough and the new strategic plan. Efforts are underway to digitize millions of objects in the collection.

Before his appointment to the Smithsonian, Clough was president of the Georgia Institute of Technology for 14 years. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from Georgia Tech in 1964 and 1965 and a doctorate in 1969 in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Arne Duncan is the ninth U.S. secretary of education. He has served in this post since his confirmation by the U.S. Senate in January 2009, following his nomination by President Barack Obama.

Duncan's tenure as secretary has been marked by a number of significant accomplishments on behalf of American students and teachers. He helped to secure congressional support for President Obama's investments in education, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's $100 billion to fund 325,000 teaching jobs, increases in Pell grants, reform efforts such as Race to the Top and Investing in Innovation and interventions in low-performing schools. He also helped secure an additional $10 billion to avoid teacher layoffs; the elimination of student loan subsidies to banks; and a $500 million national competition for early learning programs. Under Duncan's leadership at the Department, the Race to the Top program has the incentives, guidance and flexibility it needs to support reforms in states. The Department also has focused billions of dollars to transform struggling schools, prompting nearly 1,000 low-performing schools nationwide to recruit new staff, adopt new teaching methods and add learning time. He has led new efforts to encourage labor and management to work together as never before, and their new collaboration is helping to drive reform, strengthen teaching, create better educational options and improve learning.

Before becoming secretary of education, Duncan served as the chief executive officer of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) for seven years. He won praise for uniting education reformers, teachers, principals and business stakeholders behind an aggressive education reform agenda that included opening more than 100 new schools, expanding after-school and summer learning programs, closing down underperforming schools, increasing early childhood and college access, dramatically boosting the caliber of teachers and building public-private partnerships around a variety of education initiatives.

Prior to joining the Chicago Public Schools, Duncan ran the nonprofit education foundation Ariel Education Initiative, which helped fund a college education for a class of inner-city children under the I Have A Dream program.

Duncan graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He was co-captain of Harvard's basketball team and was named a first team Academic All-American.

General Philip Breedlove is commander, Supreme Allied Command, Europe, SHAPE, Belgium and Headquarters, U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany.  

Breedlove was raised in Forest Park, Ga., and was commissioned in 1977 as a distinguished graduate of Georgia Tech's ROTC program. He has been assigned to numerous operational, command and staff positions, and has completed nine overseas tours, including two remote tours. Additionally, he has served as vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.; operations officer in the Pacific Command Division on the Joint Staff; executive officer to the commander of Headquarters Air Combat Command; senior military assistant to the secretary of the Air Force; and vice director for Strategic Plans and Policy on the Joint Staff.

Prior to assuming his current position, Breedlove served as commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe; commander, U.S. Air Forces Africa; commander, Air Component Command, Ramstein; and director, Joint Air Power Competence Centre, Kalkar, Germany. He was responsible for Air Forces activities, conducted through the 3rd Air Force, in an area of operations covering more than 19 million square miles. This area included 105 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. As vice chief, he presided over the Air Staff and served as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Requirements Oversight Council and Deputy Advisory Working Group. He assisted the chief of staff with organizing, training and equipping of 680,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian forces serving in the United States and overseas. Breedlove has flown combat missions in Operation Joint Forge/Joint Guardian. He is a command pilot with 3,500 flying hours, primarily in the F-16.