'Wimpy Kid' Author Kinney To Give Marist's Commencement Speech

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — The best-selling author of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series and cartoonist Jeff Kinney will give the undergraduate commencement speech for the class of 2023 at Marist College.

The ceremony will be held Saturday, May 20 on Campus Green.

Kinney’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series is a realistic fiction comedy geared for children and teenagers, according to a spokesperson.

His first book was released in 2007, just as today’s undergraduates were entering elementary school. The book series has been on The New York Times children’s series best-seller list for 750 weeks and sold more than 275 million copies globally.

The series, which won a Children’s Choice Book Awards and six Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards for Favorite Book, was also developed into feature films.

The most recent film — “Diary of a Wimpy Kid Rodrick Rules” — was released in 2022.

During the commencement ceremony, Kinney will receive an honorary doctor of letters degree from Marist College.

Kinney said he was thrilled to be able to address Marist’s class of 2023 and said his wife, Julie, was a member of the class of 1990.

“Her experiences at Marist helped shape her into the wonderful person she’s become,” he said.

“It will be an honor to share my own perspective and experience with a motivated group of students who will become future leaders and innovators in this country,” Kinney said.

The commencement speaker for the adult undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students May 19 will be class of 1998 Marist alumnus Jerome Pickett.

He served for 17 years as a special agent within the United States Secret Service, including protective details for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and participating in search and rescue operations at Ground Zero.

Picket is the founder of Synth Advisory Services and serves as board director for Magnet Forensics and is also a member of the Marist College Board of Trustees.