Henrietta Holsman Fore, a leader in business, corporate boards, the U.S. government, the United Nations and nonprofit organizations, will speak at Westmont Commencement, 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 9, at the college’s Thorrington Field.

Fore served as the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and directed U.S. Foreign Assistance; she was the first woman to hold these positions.

Fore worked as undersecretary of state for management; COO for the U.S. Department of State; director of the U.S. Mint in the U.S. Department of Treasury; and executive director of UNICEF.

About 300 graduates will walk during Westmont graduation exercises; 134 with academic honors, including two ROTC students and veterans. More than 50 Golden Warriors from the class of 1976 will march in the procession and mark their 50th reunion.

Twenty-two members of the seventh cohort of the Westmont Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing program will participate in commencement two days after their pinning ceremony, on May 7 at Montecito Covenant Church. 

While closed to the general public, Westmont commencement will be livestreamed at westmont.edu/commencement.

College President Gayle D. Beebe will present Westmont Medals to William and Nancy Kimsey, who have made contributions to international accounting, the greater Santa Barbara area, and to generously supporting Westmont.

William Kimsey, a business executive who served for more than 30 years at EY (formerly Ernst & Young), a global auditing and accounting firm, retired from the company in 2002 as its global CEO.

Following his tenure in corporate leadership, Kimsey founded and serves as managing director of Kimsey Consulting. He also oversees Kimsey Vineyard, a 45-acre boutique wine estate in Ballard Canyon.

Nancy Kimsey, who cofounded Kimsey Vineyard with her husband, is a philanthropist who has served on the board of the Dream Foundation and co-chaired the Mother’s Day luncheon for the Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care organization.

She also co-founded the home décor store Legacy, a venture specifically designed to raise funds for local hospice services.

The Westmont Medal honors those whose lives embody the principles associated with the character of the college. Past recipients include:

Steven and Denice Fellows, Lindsay and Laurie Parton, Christine and Robert Emmons, Rolf Geyling, David and Anna Grotenhuis, Palmer Jr. and Susan Jackson, Gerd Jordano, Jonathan Walker, Katherine Wiebe, Ron Werft, and John Davies.

Graduates Kaisa Lindman-Marshall and Anthony Gose will offer student reflections.