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The Most Rev. Shelton J. Fabre, Archbishop of Louisville, and Bellarmine trustee and retired business leader Michael Hobbs ’71/’83 MBA will receive honorary degrees and speak to graduates at Bellarmine University’s 71st annual commencement festivities on Saturday, May 11.

 

Bellarmine will award approximately 850 degrees in two commencement exercises at Freedom Hall—one for graduate or doctoral degrees at 10 a.m. and one for undergraduates at 2 p.m.

 

 

Mike Hobbs’ 50-year career in glass manufacturing spanned every facet of the industry—retail, wholesale, manufacturing and fabrication—and culminated in his ownership and service as Chief Executive Officer of Engineered Glass Products from 1995 to 2016, when he retired. Under his leadership, the company grew significantly and pioneered new technologies.

 

He is now using his business acumen to mentor and advise entrepreneurs of color and small business owners and is involved with several charitable organizations focused on providing educational opportunities and professional development to youth without economic or social advantages.

 

Hobbs has generously supported Bellarmine and its students for more than 40 years. He was instrumental, for example, in the creation of the nation’s first endowed physical therapy service-learning clinic, the Michael E. Hobbs Service-Learning Clinic at Bellarmine University. He is a 1999 inductee of the Bellarmine University Alumni Association’s Gallery of Distinguished Graduates and was named Alumnus of the Year in 2010. 

 

 

The Most Rev. Shelton J. Fabre was appointed the 10th Bishop and fifth Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Louisville by Pope Francis on Feb. 8, 2022, and was installed as Archbishop on March 30, 2022.

 

Prior to that, he had served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana and Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans, where he helped to rebuild the Archdiocese of New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. He was ordained a priest in 1989.

 

From 2018 to 2023, Archbishop Fabre served as the chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism and led the writing of the U.S. Bishops’ most recent pastoral letter on racism, Open Wide Our Hearts - The Enduring Call to Love, which was approved and published in 2018.  

 

He currently is a bishop-consultor on the USCCB Committee of Domestic Justice and Human Development and is a member of the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, and Family Life. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Catholic Relief Services, on the Board of Trustees of the National Black Catholic Congress, and on the Board of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States.

 

For more information on Bellarmine’s May 11 commencement ceremonies, such as parking and what to bring/not bring, visit our Commencement 2024 site.