Alan K. Simpson. Photo by Martha Stewart.

Alan K. Simpson, director of the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government, will speak at this year's Class Day exercises, to be held Wednesday, June 9.

Simpson, a former senator from Wyoming, will draw on more than his experience as a lecturer, legislator, and media personality. In accepting the invitation, he promised Harvard Class Marshals Janté Charee Santos '99 and Nicholas K. Davis '99 to enliven this year's Class Day exercises with stories from his own "wayward youth" and to share with them his own impressions and predictions of what to expect from life after college.

A broad range of personalities from different walks of life have spoken at Harvard's Class Day, which falls on the day before Commencement Exercises. Previous years have seen luminaries ranging from Coretta Scott King to Walter Cronkite to Rodney Dangerfield appear in the speaker role.

Santos and Davis extended the Class Day Speaker invitation to Simpson after hearing several members of the Class of 1999 mention how much they enjoyed previous speeches Simpson had made over the course of the year.

"Alan Simpson is not known as an entertainer the way some previous Class Day speakers have been," Davis said. "But he is both a renowned and accomplished public figure and a warm, jovial personality. Having now taught and worked with so many of Harvard's students, he is sure to give a fun and thoughtful speech that graduates and their families will all appreciate."