FILE – In this Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016 file photo, actor Tom Hanks arrives to receive a lifetime achievement at the Rome Film Festival, in Rome. Within the manic action of “Inferno,” the latest big-screen adaptation of a Dan Brown thriller, is a warning about the dangers of seeking simple solutions to complex problems. Star Tom Hanks says it‚Äôs a theme with echoes in the current U.S. presidential race. “Inferno” sets Hank’s polymathic professor Robert Langdon on the trail of a deadly plague concocted by billionaire scientist Bertrand Zobrist (Ben Foster) out of a sort of warped humanitarianism: He plans to end war, poverty and famine by wiping out half the world’s population. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, file)
Forrest Gump was famous for passing along sage advice and finding himself at the center of critical cultural moments. Now he's headed to Harvard.
At least, actor Tom Hanks will be — he's scheduled to be the Ivy League university’s commencement speaker May 25. He's also expected to receive an honorary degree.
Harvard’s most recent commencement speakers have come from politics, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand.
Hanks, whose upcoming speech was announced by Harvard on Tuesday, also highlights a list of Massachusetts commencement speakers that have been announced now that colleges have largely made it past spring break and are rounding towards finals in the next month or so.
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