The University of Missouri-Kansas City has announced speakers for its May 2025 ceremonies.
The celebration will be held May 17 at the T-Mobile Center with three ceremonies to confer graduates’ degrees. 
The Honorable Robert W. Fry (DDS, '73), was appointed to the University of Missouri Board of Curators by Governor Mike Parson in April 2023. He will speak at the 10 a.m. ceremony, which will recognize graduates from the School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, School of Nursing and Health Sciences and School of Pharmacy.
Fry graduated from 性视界传媒 in the top 1% of his class. He served as a captain in the U.S. Army from 1973 to 1975 in Fort Hood, Texas, and began his private practice in orthodontics in 1977, serving the Kansas City area for decades.
Fry served as an adjunct clinical professor of orthodontics at the University of Southern California, New York University and the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry. He served as the President of the Kansas Dental Association in 1987. In 2002, he received the Martin L. (Bud) Schulman Award for highest achievement in the orthodontic profession.
DeAngela Burns-Wallace, president and chief executive officer of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, will speak at the 2 p.m. ceremony, which will recognize graduates of the Henry W. Bloch School of Management; School of Education, Social Work and Psychological Sciences and School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Burns-Wallace has held significant roles in public service and academia, including as a U.S. State Department diplomat serving in China, South Africa and Washington, D.C., and secretary of administration and chief information technology officer for the state of Kansas. In her 15-year tenure in higher education, Burns-Wallace served as vice provost for undergraduate education at the University of Kansas and assistant dean of undergraduate admissions at Stanford University. She holds degrees from Stanford University, Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Charlie Shields is the president and chief executive officer of University Health. Shields also served for 10 years as president of the Missouri State Board of Education. He will speak at the 6 p.m. ceremony, recognizing graduates of the Conservatory, School of Law and School of Science and Engineering.
Shields has more than 25 years of healthcare leadership and decades of public service, including 20 years in the Missouri General Assembly, culminating his service with two years as president pro tem of the Missouri Senate.
He is past chairman of the board of America’s Essential Hospitals and past chairman of the board of the Missouri Hospital Association. Shields is also chairman of the board of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and member of the Kansas City Civic Council.