Ex-NYPD commissioner added to list of N.J. college commencement speakers

Ray Kelly, who stepped down as head of the NYPD in 2013, joins a growing list of commencement speakers on New Jersey campuses.

HACKETTSTOWN -- The longest serving police commissioner in New York City's history will be the commencement speaker at one of New Jersey's smallest private colleges next  month.

Ray Kelly, who stepped down as head of the NYPD in 2013, will serve as the keynote speaker at Centenary College's commencement in Hackettstown, school officials announced Monday.

Kelly was the longest-serving police commissioner in the city's history, filling the post for two years under Mayor David Dinkins and again a decade later under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

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He recently published a book about his life and the post-9/11 fight against terrorism.

Kelly will speak at Centenary College's May 14 commencement ceremony on the front lawn of the campus administration building before 525 graduates and their families.

The former NYPD commissioner joins a growing list of commencement speakers slated to speak next month at New Jersey colleges and universities.

The announced speakers include: President Barack Obama at Rutgers University; basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at Drew University; U.S. Sen. Cory Booker at William Paterson University; "The Wire" star Wendell Pierce at Rutgers-Newark; and both "Humans of New York" blog creator Brandon Stanton and astronaut Mark Kelly at Kean University.   

Centenary officials also announced they will honor Chris Treanor, an insurance brokerage executive and member of the school's board of trustees, with a honorary doctorate of humane letters.

"I am so pleased that we can honor all of these individuals in this manner," said Barbara-Jayne Lewthwaite, Centenary's president. "This commencement is extra special for me because it is my last one as college president."

Lewthwaite announced last year she would step down at the end of the school year to join Centenary's faculty. She will be replaced in July by David Haney, a former vice president at Emory & Henry College in Virginia.