At its May 16 commencement ceremony, Fordham will award honorary degrees to two Fordham alumni who are accomplished leaders in the worlds of media and literature: Gerry Byrne ’66, an entrepreneur, trailblazing media executive, and advocate for military veterans; and Maureen Corrigan, PhD, ’77, an award-winning author and scholar who serves as book critic for NPR’s Fresh Air.
Fordham’s 2026 commencement speaker—celebrated broadcaster, author, and former TODAY show co-host Hoda Kotb—will also receive an honorary degree, a doctorate of humane letters, at the ceremony.
A Media Trailblazer with Military Roots
Byrne, a Fordham Prep graduate, is a former U.S. Marine Corps officer and decorated Vietnam War veteran who has been a force for innovation and change in the media industry. He was the start-up publisher of Crain’s New York Business and a senior executive at producer Norman Lear’s ACT III Communications. As publisher of Variety, he led its transformation from a trade publication into a diversified global media brand. Today he serves as vice chairman of Penske Media Corporation, guiding business initiatives across all its media brands, which include Rolling Stone, the arts festival South by Southwest, the Golden Globes, and the American Music Awards.
Byrne graduated from Fordham Preparatory School in 1962 and earned his commission through a Marine Corps training program while attending Fordham. He is a recipient of the Navy Achievement Medal with Combat V for his two years of service in Vietnam. His many other commendations include the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Navy’s highest civilian award, the Distinguished Public Service Award, presented to him last year in recognition of his support for veterans and his involvement with many causes and nonprofits. Byrne founded Veterans Week NYC to honor former service members and Veterans on Campus NYC to support the city’s student veterans and their families. He was inducted into Fordham’s Military Hall of Fame in 2022. Byrne will receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters at the commencement ceremony.
A Beloved Voice on Books and Writing
Corrigan has served as book critic for the Peabody Award-winning NPR show Fresh Air for the past 36 years while building a distinguished and multifaceted literary career. Her areas of expertise include the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, detective fiction, and the literature of New York City. Her authored works include So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures and a literary memoir, Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading. She is now writing a book about the banning of books in America.
Among other pursuits, Corrigan has written about books for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, chaired the mystery and suspense judges’ panel for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, served on the advisory panel for The American Heritage Dictionary, and served as a juror for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.
Her awards and honors include the Edgar Award for Criticism from the Mystery Writers of America, the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing by the National Book Critics Circle, and the Kukula Award for Excellence in Non-Fiction Reviewing from Washington Monthly magazine. After graduating from Fordham, where she majored in English, Corrigan earned master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, and serves as the Nicky and Jamie Grant Distinguished Professor of the Practice in Literary Criticism at Georgetown University. Corrigan will receive an honorary doctorate of letters at the commencement ceremony.
