Speaker 1 (00:00):
... screen. For more than 30 years, he has been a leading voice for the protection of our planet, serving as vice chair of Conservation International and advocating for the preservation of ecosystems around the world. Through his work, he has helped bring global attention to the urgency of climate change, biodiversity loss, and the vital connection between nature and human life.
Dr. Harrison Ford (00:23):
If nature isn't kept healthy, humans won't survive, simple as that.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
On the world stage, he has used his voice with clarity and conviction.
Dr. Harrison Ford (00:36):
The earth has irreplaceable ecosystems rich in carbon and biodiversity by preserving just a small fraction. We can protect our wildlife, our air, water, food, jobs, and climate. And remember, reinforcements are on the way.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
A lifelong pilot and explorer, he has spent decades in the air, driven by curiosity, discipline, and a deep respect for the world below. That spirit of exploration has shaped not only his career, but his commitment to protecting the places we all share. Today we recognize not only an extraordinary actor, but a dedicated advocate whose work reminds us of our responsibility to one another and to the future of our planet. Arizona State University is proud to welcome Harrison Ford.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
We will now bring Harrison Ford to the front of the stage along with the dean of Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, Renee Cheng, and Miki Kittilson, dean of the Rob Walton College of Global Futures, to perform the right of investiture.
(02:02)
President Crow, Arizona State University is honored to confer upon Harrison Ford the degree of Doctor of Arts and Humane Letters, honoris causa, in recognition of his global cultural influence through film, enduring dedication and extraordinary work for planetary health, and service through humanitarian aviation.
President Michael M. Crow (02:29):
Harrison, I should say almost Dr. Ford, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Arizona Board of Regents on the recommendation of the outstanding faculty of Arizona State University, two of our deans up here, I hereby confer upon you the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, and admit you to all of its rights, honors, privileges, and obligations most importantly. So congratulations, Dr. Ford.
(03:09)
Harrison, you have inspired us. You've inspired me in your almost 40 years of commitment to conservation. Our new College of Global Futures, our new Walton School for Conservation Futures, all the things that we've got, where we're placing all of our energy. With your powerful voice, how do we find a way to help people to understand what it's going to take to build as successful a future as we have had to get here? How do we make that happen? Your inspiration, your commitment, your voice, your driving force behind this, using your celebrity and your power to do those things have been very meaningful to us at Arizona State University. So thank you, Dr. Ford.
Dr. Harrison Ford (03:57):
Thank you, President Crow. Thank you very much. Thank you, President Crow, for the kind, gracious introduction, and for the privilege to address all of you here today. You're here because you have accomplished something significant. You understood the opportunity before you. You took advantage of all this world-class university had to offer. You made wise choices, followed through with the work. I celebrate your commitment. The combined success of all of you, the potential of your entire generation, that is what gives me hope for the future.
(05:01)
I didn't give much thought to the future, to my future when I was in college. I did not make good choices. I didn't have the perspective, the maturity. I served only myself. I was squandering my life in riotous living. By my junior year, I was in real trouble, grade point wise, and looking for an easy A. I took a course, the catalog called Drama: The Study of Plays. We'd be responsible for putting on plays for the college, but I didn't give that part much thought. I thought I'd work in the box office or build sets.
(05:50)
My classmates were people I had previously discounted as geeks and misfits, but I soon realized I was a geek and a misfit. I had found my fit. These were my people. Turns out I didn't work in the box office. Instead, I had major parts in five or six plays that we put on that year. I began to find myself on stage pretending to be someone else. I had always seen myself as shy, but hiding in character and costume and makeup. I had a freedom, a bravery I had never felt before, and I got an A.
(06:50)
I was, I realized, present for possibly the very first time in my life. My passion had led me to community. The head of the theater department had become a mentor to me. He invited me to do plays in a summer theater season he directed. Sure. And then come to California to join him again at a more professional theater. Wow. Which led to an interview at Columbia Pictures, which eventually would lead to my theatrical career.
(07:44)
But acting was not yet paying the bills. I was supporting my growing family with carpentry jobs, another way to put food on the table. I loved making things. This went on for about... Well, I just skipped a line. Back up for me if you would, please. I only took acting jobs when the parts challenged me. This went on for about 15 years, during which I did a lot of carpentry and only four or five acting jobs, but they were more ambitious, good projects. And then it all added up, and I got Star Wars.
(08:44)
The load lightened. I had freedom, opportunity, but something was still missing. Passion and purpose are not the same thing. Passion brings you joy. Purpose brings you meaning. Passion gets you out of bed in the morning, but purpose allows you to sleep at night. And I hadn't found purpose higher than my job yet. That changed in the late '80s. I was living in Wyoming, and I was impressed by a group of people that I met there who had recently formed a not-profit called Conservation International. They had inspired leadership in their founder, Peter Seligmann, who became a trusted friend. Their message was simple: Nature doesn't need people. People need nature to survive.
(10:03)
A healthy natural world provides free services to mankind that we cannot provide for ourselves: oxygen in the air we breathe; pollinators for our crops; fresh water and carbon capture from our forest, wetlands, and ocean; medicines, present and future, from the rainforest. They had their heads in the sky and their feet in the mud, and they encouraged me to join them. There it was, purpose, a place to put my passion for storytelling to work. I didn't want to be a poster boy for the cause. I wanted to be part of the work so I was invited to join the board some 35 years ago. That's why I stand here now before you to represent for nature the source of life itself.
(11:19)
Humanity is a part of nature, not above it. We have an essential mandate to protect 30% of the world's land and sea by 2030 to prevent the mass extinction, to slow the warming of our planet. Still, despite new science, new policies, we are still losing nature to profiteering, corruption, conflict, including land that is already protected on paper. These efforts matter, but they're not enough. We need cultural change. We need to extend social justice. We need to respect and elevate the Indigenous peoples that are being marginalized, and in many cases, killed in cold blood. These communities have long understood that the trees, the mountain, water, soil are not commodities. They are relatives to be cherished for following generations to embrace and protect. We can all play a role by embracing that wisdom in our day-to-day lives, by loving the planet, by honoring nature's authority, her generosity, the bounty she affords us, the justice of her example, because the world you're stepping into, the world my generation left you, is a real mess.
(13:34)
Saving nature isn't our only job. There are opportunities to be embraced in society and business, in the kind of lives we live. So find a place for yourself. Whatever talent or ambition you have, find some way to put it to work. Build something that didn't exist yesterday. Stand up for someone who can't stand up for themselves. Bring people together who weren't talking before. That's leadership. That's what moves the needle. Your generation has far more power than you may realize. And if you harness that power, if you find your leadership, your issues, your voice, the world will not be able to ignore you. You will have to be accommodated. Believe me, I know that's true. Don't wait. When opportunity presents, recognize it. This is your time. Own it. Enjoy every second of it, because what could be worse than getting to the end of your life and realizing that you haven't fully lived it? Congratulations. Go change the world.
Speaker 5 (15:18):
Thank you, Dr. Ford. President Crow will now present the Moeur Award.
President Michael M. Crow (15:30):
Would our Moeur Award recipients stand up, please? The students standing have achieved excellent scholastic records during their undergraduate years. They've had the highest grade point of the May 2026 graduating class while completing all of their work here at ASU in no more than eight semesters. I'd like each of these students to be recognized by the rest of us for their energy and their creativity and their work. Thank you, and congratulations.