30-04-2025
What will Tori Murden McClure share at Wilson College's graduation?
Tori Murden McClure, a trailblazing adventurer and academic leader, will address Wilson College's class of 2025 at the 155th annual commencement ceremony on May 4, according to a community announcement.
McClure retired from Spalding University in 2024 after 25 years, serving the last 14 as president. She is best known as the first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, a 3,000-mile journey she completed in 1999 after 81 days at sea. Her boat, 'American Pearl,' was crafted by hand and later donated to the Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. A decade earlier, she was among the first two women and first 10 Americans to ski cross-country to the South Pole as part of a 50-day, 750-mile Canadian-led expedition.
In 2009, Harper Collins published her memoir, 'A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean,' detailing her life and Atlantic journey. The book inspired a stage musical, 'Row,' which premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts in 2021.
'It is an honor to have renowned adventurer and scholar Tori Murden McClure providing the Commencement address to our undergraduate and graduate degree students this year,' said Wilson College President Wesley R. Fugate, Ph.D. 'Not only will her extraordinary journeys and academic insights help celebrate this occasion, but it is my hope that her experiences will also encourage Wilson's graduates to embark on their own journeys with a sense of lifelong learning and adventure.'
McClure is also an accomplished mountaineer, having completed major climbs on several continents. She served as the former board chair of the National Outdoor Leadership School, a global wilderness school based in Wyoming. Additionally, she worked as an emergency medical technician (EMT) and wilderness EMT for nearly 25 years, also providing EMT instruction to firefighters.
As a former college athlete, McClure is a proponent of collegiate and amateur athletics. At Smith College, she was a dual-sport Division III student-athlete in basketball and varsity crew, serving as a student athletic trainer. She was honored as the student who best represented the ideals of a Smith scholar-athlete, the college's highest athletic honor. She joined the Smith College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. She served as vice chair of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Board of Governors, chaired the NCAA Division III Presidents Council, and was acting chair of the NCAA Board in 2020.
Throughout her career, McClure worked as a chaplain at Boston City Hospital, director of a Louisville women's shelter, policy assistant to the mayor of Louisville, and the first full-time employee of the Muhammad Ali Center. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Smith College, a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, a Juris Doctorate from the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Spalding University.
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This article originally appeared on Chambersburg Public Opinion: Tori Murden McClure to speak at Wilson College commencement
