Radio Host, Baltimore Native Ira Glass to Deliver Goucher Commencement Speech

Public radio host and producer Ira Glass, of This American Life fame, will deliver the spring commencement address at , the school announced Monday.

Glass, a Baltimore native, will speak to Goucher's class of 2012 on Friday, May 18. The ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m.

This American Life, syndicated nationally since 1996, now reaches 500 stations and more than 1.7 million listeners each week with longform pieces on everything from the secret formula of Coca-Cola to the criminal escapades of one school district maintenance supervisor in Schenectady, NY.

The radio show also spawned a two-season television series for Showtime.

Before joining This American Life, Glass was a Chicago reporter and fill-in host for NPR. Glass grew up in the Baltimore area and graduated from Milford Mill High School, now known as

Glass joins a list of past Goucher commencement speakers that includes actor Matthew Modine, "Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau, comedian Bill Cosby, Fred Rogers ("Mister Rogers") and "Simpsons" voice actor Harry Shearer.

Goucher has strong ties to the world of journalism, and particularly public media. President resume includes stints as host of NPR's All Things Considered and as the director of Voice of America.