Commencement Address From Fred Poses, Honorary Doctorate Recipient
Commencement Address From Dr. Maureen Dunne, Honorary Doctorate Recipient
Info for Students
For the Spring Commencement ceremony, all graduates must arrive at the venue no later than 9:30 a.m. for check-in, portrait photograph session, and line-up in preparation for the ceremony.
Doors will open up at 10:15 a.m. for guests of the ceremony.
Graduation will begin promptly at 11 a.m.
A professional photographer will be present to take a studio portrait of each graduate before the ceremony and photographs of each graduate receiving their diploma from President Hagerty. Family and friends are welcome to take pictures with their graduates before and after the ceremony.
Accommodations
If you are looking for hotel accommodations, the Brownwood Hotel & Spa has set up a room block just for Beacon’s graduation. Make your reservation online at Brownwood Hotel & Spa (travelclick.com). Or call the hotel directly at 352-626-1246, and ask for the Beacon College Graduation block.
These nearby hotels also offer Beacon College rates.
Honorary Doctorate Recipients
At commencement, we are humbled to honor movers and shakers who have made a difference and personify the mission and values of Beacon College through the recognition of an Honorary Doctorate degree. The honorary doctorate is routinely regarded as the highest form of recognition a university can bestow.
2026 Honorary Degree Recipients: Fred and Nancy Poses
Fred and Nancy Poses are co-founders of Understood.org, a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people who learn and think differently. Inspired more than 30 years ago by their son Max’s journey, the Poses have transformed personal commitment into a global mission: putting 100 million neurodivergent individuals on a path to thriving by 2030.
Fred Poses, chief executive officer of Understood.org, brings decades of leadership experience from senior executive roles at AlliedSignal and Trane Inc. He served as chairman of the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) for 15 years and continues to serve as a trustee of the Riverview School.
Nancy Poses, board chair of Understood.org, is a long-term advocate for inclusive systems and equitable access to education. In addition to her 15 years of service to the NCLD, she leads the Poses Family Foundation and serves on the boards of the Whitney Museum and the Partnership for After School Education.
Together, they have advanced a vision that extends beyond simple accommodation to celebrate the strengths and potential of neurodivergent minds.
2026 Honorary Degree Recipient: Maureen Dunne, Ph.D.
Dunne is a cognitive scientist, neurodiversity expert and global keynote speaker whose work has reframed neurodiversity as a driver of innovation and leadership. A seasoned advisor to Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions, philanthropic foundations, and government officials, she uniquely blends professional expertise with lived experience as an autistic self-advocate with ADHD.
A trailblazer from the start, Dunne began her academic career at a community college before becoming the first community college graduate selected as a Rhodes Scholar. She later earned her doctorate from the University of Oxford.
She is the author of the national bestseller “The Neurodiversity Edge,” and founder of the Davos Neurodiversity Summit, held annually in conjunction with the World Economic Forum.
Dunne’s leadership extends to systemic advocacy as the former president of the Illinois Community College Trustees Association. Her commitment to inclusion and student success has earned her prestigious honors, including the Golden Apple Foundation’s 2024 Impact Award and recognition as a Difference Maker on Beacon College’s “A World of Difference” television series.