Nonprofit business leader Tom Baldrige H’17 will serve as Elizabethtown College’s 2026 Commencement speaker. Baldrige will address the Class of 2026 and guests for the 123rd exercises on Saturday, May 9, at 10 a.m., held in the Dell located on the College’s campus.
“Tom Baldrige’s career reflects a deep commitment to building strong, vibrant communities and demonstrates how strategic, intentional, and collaborative leadership can drive meaningful change,” Elizabethtown College President Betty Rider said. “By bringing together businesses, nonprofits, educators, and public leaders, he has helped strengthen the economic and social fabric of our region. “His dedication to strengthening communities and fostering vitality will resonate deeply with our graduates.”
“I am deeply honored to have been invited to address the Class of 2026,” Baldrige said. “I have always been a great admirer of Elizabethtown College and their unique approach to education and community, and I look forward to sharing that admiration with the students, faculty, and family as they rightly celebrate their special day.”
A nonprofit executive with more than three decades of leadership experience, Baldrige currently serves as the interim president and CEO of Pennon, the parent organization of WITF public media. Prior to this role, he led the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce in Lancaster County as the organization’s president and CEO from 2000 to 2022.
Under his guidance, the Lancaster Chamber was twice named “Chamber of the Year” by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). In honor of his exceptional career in chamber leadership, Baldrige was named a recipient of the 2024 Life Member Award from the ACCE.
Throughout his distinguished career, he has been a respected and influential leader in the community, currently serving as vice chair of the High Foundation Board of Trustees and on the boards of Penn Medicine/Lancaster General Health, LancasterHistory, and Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology.
Baldrige’s extensive executive leadership experience also includes a stint as president of The Lancaster Alliance, an organization focused on the revitalization of the City of Lancaster.
He is the past chair of the board of directors of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives and served on the boards of Leadership Lancaster, the Economic Development Company of Lancaster County, Discover Lancaster, the Lancaster County Workforce Development Board, the Lancaster County Transportation Authority, and the Lancaster City Reinvestment and Improvement Zone Authority.
Baldrige holds many connections with Elizabethtown College, having served as a member of the College’s Leadership Council from 2004 to 2014, and, in recognition of his leadership within the community, received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from the College in 2017. His brother, Chris Baldrige ’86, earned his bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Etown and serves as Executive Director at Harrisburg Public Schools Foundation.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in speech education in 1981 from Ithaca College and has completed graduate courses at Elmira College. Baldrige currently resides in Lancaster with his wife, Susan. They have three grown children and six grandchildren.
Elizabethtown College’s Commencement ceremony will honor graduates of all six of its Schools, including the School of Graduate and Professional Studies (SGPS). The ceremony will also be livestreamed on etown.edu.