Don Sweeney, general manager of the Boston Bruins, will be keynote speaker at Nichols College’s 2022 Commencement exercises on Saturday, May 7th at 10:00 a.m. at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Mr. Sweeney will receive an honorary degree that morning, as will Gail Carberry, retired president of Quinsigamond Community College, and Rick Green, co-founder and CEO of 1A Auto.

“Mr. Sweeney’s distinguished and successful career with the Bruins, beginning with his fifteen seasons as a defenseman and rising through the front office ranks to GM, is a tale of talent, grit, loyalty and leadership that is sure to inspire and inform our graduates as they take their next steps toward achieving their own professional goals,” Nichols President Glenn M. Sulmasy, JD, LL.M, said.

Don and Christine’s son Jarrod (one of twins, brother of Tyler) will graduate with Nichols’ Class of 2022.

Mr. Sweeney is in his seventh season as Bruins GM. He oversees all aspects of the team’s hockey operations and serves as an alternate governor on the NHL’s Board of Governors.

The team’s record with Mr. Sweeney at the helm is 303-156-61 for a .583 win percentage. Among GMs with at least 250 regular-season games since 2015-16, he ranks second in wins behind Brian MacLellan in Washington and fourth in win percentage. He was voted by his peers as the NHL’s General Manager of the Year in 2018-19, when the club compiled the third best record in the NHL and advanced to the Stanley Cup final.

The team won the President’s Trophy with the league’s best record in 2019-20.

Mr. Sweeney began his association with the Bruins as the team’s eighth pick, 166th overall, in the 1984 Entry Draft. He played in 1,115 NHL games.

With the Bruins, he has been director of player development, director of hockey operations, assistant general manager and now general manager.

He obtained a degree in Economics from Harvard University, where he played four seasons of hockey, earning both NCAA East All-American and ECAC First Team honors. He played twice in the Frozen Four, including in the 1986 NCAA finals.