Cleveland Clinic Diversity Director to Deliver Commencement Speech to Ursuline College's Largest Graduating Class
The Cleveland Clinic Health System’s Executive Director Deborah Plummer, Ph.D. will deliver
Ursuline College’s May 16th commencement address to the school’s largest graduating class in
its 136-year history. The event takes place 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM, State Theatre, Playhouse Square, 1501 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland.
“Commencement is a significant and memorable event for our students and their families and having Deborah as keynote speaker adds to the excitement,” said Ursuline President Sister Diana Stano, OSU, Ph.D. Stano said Plummer is an excellent role model for women and her message of multicultural awareness is an important one.
Plummer said she hopes her talk entitled, The Principle of Staying Dumb, will inspire
graduates to become lifelong learners and do all they can to achieve their goals. The focus of
her talk is the value of diversity awareness in today’s society.
Before joining the Cleveland Clinic in 2006, Plummer was professor and director of diversity management at Cleveland State University. She is founder of D.L. Plummer & Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in diversity management and organizational development. She has consulted for a variety of national and local corporations including Fortune 100 companies, community mental health agencies, public and private school systems and faith-based systems.
Plummer is a noted national speaker to professional and civic communities, colleges and
faith-based groups, and is the editor of the Handbook of Diversity Management: Beyond
Awareness to Competency Based Learning and author of Racing Across the Lines: Changing Race Relations Through Friendships.
Plummer received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Notre Dame College of Ohio, and both her master’s degree and Ph.D. from Kent State University. She resides in Cleveland Heights with her husband Michael.
The College will grant nearly 300 bachelor’s degrees and more than 150 graduate degrees. The
oldest graduate is 74 years old, while another grad has taken 41 years to complete her degree.
Graduates include students from 17 foreign countries including Romania, Brazil, St. Petersburg, Russia, West Germany, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ukraine and Japan.
