Award-winning actor, producer, director, and author Henry Winkler ’67, who received his honorary doctorate in humane letters in ’78, will return to Emerson College’s Boston campus in early May to deliver the 2026 keynote commencement address, which was announced earlier today in a presidential communication email. Winkler’s speech will take place at the main commencement ceremony on the evening of May 9 at the Wang Theatre.
Winkler rose to fame in the 1970s playing Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli in “Happy Days” (1974-1984). He later captivated audiences as Barry Zuckerkorn in “Arrested Development” (2003-2006 and 2013-2019) and as Gene Cousineau in “Barry” (2018-2023), the latter of which won him an Emmy Award in 2018.
Outside of acting, Winkler co-wrote the Hank Zipzer children’s book series, which centers around a child with dyslexia, a condition that Winkler also lives with. The series, according to the email, is written and published with a dyslexia-friendly font and increased spacing to make it easier for those with the condition to read and digest…