Soccer Legend Abby Wambach, Educator Francisco Rodriguez to Address LMU Graduates

LOS ANGELES, April 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Loyola Marymount University will welcome Olympian, activist and author Abby Wambach as the keynote speaker for the university's 2022 undergraduate commencement exercises on May 7. Francisco C. Rodriguez, Ph.D., chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, will address graduate students on May 8.

Wambach is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, FIFA World Cup Champion, and six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award. She was the United States' leading scorer in the 2007 and 2011 Women's World Cup tournaments and the 2004 and 2012 Olympics. A National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee, in 2015 Ms. Wambach was also included on the Time Magazine 100 list of the most influential people in the world.

An activist for equality and inclusion, she is the author of the No. 1 New York Times bestseller "WOLFPACK" as well as the adaptation of "WOLFPACK" for the next generation, an instant New York Times bestseller.

Wambach is the host of "Abby's Places" on ESPN+, in which she showcases what makes her beloved sport of soccer a worldwide sensation. She sits on the board of directors for the all-women-led nonprofit organization Together Rising. She lives in California with her wife, Glennon Doyle, and their three children.

Rodriguez is chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, the largest community college district in the nation, with an annual budget of $5.8 billion. Its nine accredited colleges enroll more than 200,000 students. Appointed in 2014, Rodriguez has guided the hiring of close to 700 full-time, tenure-track faculty and led the efforts for a taxpayer-approved $3.3 billion local facilities bond in 2016 to transform the nine-college system. 

Rodriguez was a principal architect for the statewide California Promise Program, which was the result of LACCD-sponsored legislation with Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, that provides all first-time, full-time California students with two years of tuition-free education at any of the state's community colleges.

A noted scholar, practitioner and educator-activist, Rodriguez has more than 30 years of experience as an educator, faculty member, and administrator within California public higher education. He has dedicated his career to high-quality public education and championing equity and inclusion, diversity, and outreach to under-resourced communities. Rodriguez is a first-generation English-language learner, and proud son of immigrant factory workers.

The ceremonies for LMU's 110^th Commencement Exercises are returning home following a pandemic-related postponement in 2020 and the combined "mega-mencement" for the Classes of 2020 and 2021, held last year at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Both the undergraduate and graduate ceremonies this year will take place at Sunken Garden on the LMU Westchester campus.

Watch President Timothy Law Snyder's commencement video briefing here.

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SOURCE Loyola Marymount University