Simmons University will recognize two Honorary Degree recipients during the 2025 Commencement ceremonies. Long-serving Massachusetts State Senator and women’s rights advocate Harriette L. Chandler ’83MBA will serve as the morning Commencement speaker. Visionary leader and former CEO of Boston Children’s Hospital Sandra L. Fenwick ’72 will serve as the afternoon Commencement speaker.
About the 2025 Honorary Degree Recipients
Simmons University was founded 125 years ago with the vision of using education to advance equity and social justice. Senator Chandler and Fenwick embody the very best of this institution through their passion, leadership, and service.
Harriette L. Chandler ’83MBA, first person from Worcester to serve as President of the Massachusetts State Senate
Harriette L. Chandler will be awarded a Doctor of Public Service degree.
Dedicating much of her life to public service, she was first elected to the Worcester School Committee in 1991, followed by three terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Her interest in politics emerged from her passion for education and throughout her career she has championed women’s rights, reproductive justice, health care, and housing. Her first major bill enabled women to stay in the hospital for 24 hours after giving birth. Before retiring from the Senate in 2020, she was the lead sponsor of the landmark Roe Act, which expanded access to reproductive healthcare and enshrined those rights in the Massachusetts constitution.
Chandler has remained active beyond the State House, serving as a corporator of the YWCA, the Greater Worcester Foundation, the Worcester Art Museum, and the United Way of Central Massachusetts. She helped establish women’s portraits in Mechanics Hall, and served as a State Director of Women in Government and on the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee. She hosts a TV program called The Chandler Chat on WCCA (formerly known as Beacon Hill Chat) and continues to develop innovative approaches to combat homelessness and foster affordable housing in Worcester.
Sandra L. Fenwick ’72, tireless advocate for children’s health care
Sandra L. Fenwick will be awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
For over two decades, Fenwick served in key leadership roles at Boston Children’s Hospital — as Senior Vice President for Business Development Strategy in 1999, Chief Operating Officer in 2000, and becoming the institution's first female Chief Executive Officer in 2013.
Ranked as the number one pediatric hospital in the nation by U.S News & World Report, Boston Children’s Hospital is home to the world’s largest pediatric research enterprise and is the leading recipient of pediatric research funding from the National Institutes of Health. During her tenure, Fenwick’s transformative leadership of a team of 20,000 helped advance clinical care, biomedical research, and community engagement, while also improving Boston Children’s financial sustainability.
Currently, Fenwick serves on the Board of Directors of Teladoc Health, Inc.; Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions, Inc.; Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering; Patient Discovery Solutions, Inc. and BCH UK Charity, Ltd. She is also a member of the International Massachusetts Women’s Forum and Women Corporate Directors/Boston. In 2021, Fenwick received the inaugural Helen G. Drinan Visionary Leadership Award from Simmons University’s Institute for Inclusive Leadership.