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Emmy Award-winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph will be a special guest at this year’s Spring Commencement at Norfolk State University. The ceremony will take place Saturday, May 10, 2025, at 9 a.m. More than 600 students are set to graduate.
Ralph has established herself as a performer on Broadway, television, and movies during her more than 40-year career. Ralph is currently a star of Abbott Elementary, an award-winning show on ABC.
As Barbra Howard, an esteemed veteran educator at Abbott, she has won over millions of hearts. Ralph received an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, one of three Emmys Abbott Elementary earned in its debut season. She also won a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in addition to the several other awards the show has won.
Ralph's portrayal of Deena Jones in the original cast of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, starring Jennifer Holliday and Loretta Devine, is among her earliest and most recognizable roles. She was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and a Tony for her portrayal of Deena. Back in 2023, Ralph appeared on Broadway as Madame Morrible in Wicked, making her the first African-American actress to be cast in the role. As an avid theater lover, Ralph also served as the producer of the Broadway play Thoughts of Colored Man.
Among some of the most accomplished men on the big screen, the Hollywood heroine has collaborated with Danny Glover, Eddie Murphy, Denzel Washington, and Robert De Niro. She is also well-known for her performance opposite Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act II. Ralph co-starred with Danny Glover in To Sleep with Anger, which earned her the Independent Spirit Awards' Best Supporting Actress prize in 1990.
Along with her numerous film credits, Ralph has starred in a number of television series over her career, including Barbershop, ER, It's a Living, New Attitude, George, Designing Women, Two Broke Girls, Smash, Criminal Minds, MacGyver, Instant Mom, Ray Donovan, One Mississippi, and Claws. She also portrayed Deidra “Dee” Mitchell on the UPN hit series Moesha.
Outside of her film career Ralph is a generous philanthropist as well. A devoted health champion and AIDS activist, Ralph established the nonprofit DIVA (Divinely Inspired, Victoriously Anointed) Foundation in memory of her friends who passed away from HIV/AIDS.
Ralph was supposed to be the keynote speaker at the Fall Commencement ceremony at Norfolk State in 2023, but had to back out due to a last-minute scheduling conflict. She was replaced by comedienne and actress Loni Love.
