On April 25, the UC San Diego Commencement website released a statement announcing former U.S. Vice-President Albert Alnord Gore Jr., known as Al Gore, as the Commencement Speaker for the 2024 All Campus Commencement. Gore’s speech will be held during the ceremony on June 15 at 7:00 p.m. Over 10,000 students are estimated to be part of the graduating class and in attendance.
The 76-year-old retired politician served under Bill Clinton’s administration as Vice-President from 1993 to 2001, being elected along with Clinton twice. In the 2000 elections, he was the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, a race he lost to George W. Bush.
Gore has advocated for climate change policy throughout his career. He authored the 2006 book “An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It” and produced a documentary of the same name based on the former.
In 2007, Al Gore was awarded The Nobel Peace Prize along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The prize motivations were outlined: “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change”.
Additionally, Gore served on Apple Inc.’s Board of Directors since his appointment in 2003. He retired from the position at the annual shareholder meeting in February 2024.