Two to receive SUNY honorary degree and deliver address at 154th Commencement celebration

Buffalo State University will bestow a SUNY honorary degree on two notable individuals who will address the Class of 2026 during the university’s 154th Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 16, in the campus Sports Arena. 

Bobbie Chase, comics and graphic novel publishing executive, will deliver the Commencement address at the 1:00 p.m. School of Arts and Sciences ceremony; Rebekah A. Williams, community activist, strategic planner, and facilitator, and co-founding director of Food for the Spirit, will deliver the Commencement address at the 5:00 p.m. Master’s and Advanced Graduate Certificates ceremony.

The honorary doctorate degree is the highest form of recognition offered by the State University of New York to persons of exceptional distinction. Its purpose is to recognize those whose lives and significant achievements are widely known and highly regarded.

Bobbie Chase

SUNY HONORARY DOCTOR OF LETTERS
School of Arts and Sciences Commencement Address | 1:00 p.m. Ceremony

Bobbie Chase is a comics and graphic novel publishing executive with over 40 years of experience in publishing. Her most recent position was as executive editor of graphic novels at Wattpad Webtoon Studios, the publishing arm of a global company based in Korea that produces phone-based digital comics—the most popular global comics platform today. 

Prior to this, Chase spent a decade at DC Entertainment/Warner Bros., where she held three different vice president positions, most recently as vice president of global publishing initiatives and digital strategy at DC Comics, in which she was charged with creating new global initiatives and partnerships, most successfully with Webtoons in Korea (Marvel Webtoons) and Kodansha, Japan (Marvel Manga). Prior to that, she was vice president and executive editor of a new middle grade and young adult (YA) graphic novel line. As vice president of talent development, she was responsible for creating The DC Talent Development Workshops, which launched in 2015. The program received thousands of applicants and was designed to give access and a voice to comic book writers and artists by providing educational and training programs for current and emerging talent. She joined DC in 2011, editing titles in the Batman Group such as Batgirl and Nightwing and then went on to become editorial director of the entire DC line.

Prior to joining DC, she spent 17 years at Marvel Comics, rising from assistant editor to editor-in-chief of Marvel Edge in 1994–1995. After years of editing almost every major character in the Marvel line, from The Avengers to the Incredible Hulk to G.I. Joe, Chase launched a new line of horror comics, elevating such characters as Ghost Rider, Blade, and Spirits of Vengeance, and was herself elevated to a position as one of Marvel Group’s editors-in-chief, the highest level a female editor has ever achieved at the company. In the years following, she worked for Disney Publishing and Stabenfeldt International, developing and writing middle grade and YA books and magazines.

Some of Chase’s awards and honors include Entertainment Industries Council in partnership with National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation PRISM AWARD; Several Magazine and Bookseller Newsstand Cover Competition Awards; Will Eisner and Harvey (Comic Industry Awards) nominations; Diamond GEM (Industry) Awards; and GLAAD Media Awards nomination. For many years, she was consistently ranked as one of the industry's “Top 10 Comic Book Editors” by Comics Buyers Guide, a consumer magazine.

Chase graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a B.A. in English. She also studied at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, and studied design and illustration at the Parsons School of Design and the New School for Social Research.

Chase is a native New Yorker, currently enjoying the hidden gem that is Buffalo. She loves to garden, enjoys traveling, hiking, and the theater, and is currently working on a memoir of her years at Marvel.

Rebekah A. Williams

SUNY HONORARY DOCTOR OF SCIENCE
Master’s and Advanced Graduate Certificates Commencement Address | 5:00 p.m. Ceremony

Rebekah Williams is a community activist, strategic planner, and facilitator from Western New York. As co-founding director of Food for the Spirit, she collaborates with colleagues and community partners to build collective power and advance food systems change, centering dignity and justice in all aspects of her work.

Born in 1978 in Buffalo, New York, Williams was raised in the University Heights neighborhood alongside her sisters, Rachael and Eve. Her upbringing was shaped by a strong academic legacy and a deep appreciation for culture and community. Her father, Scott Williams, was a mathematics professor at the University at Buffalo, and her grandparents were professors at Morgan State University. Her mother, Karen Williams Powell, fostered in her an entrepreneurial spirit and curiosity about diverse cultures. Together, her parents instilled a lifelong commitment to learning, equity, and human connection.

Williams attended Bennett Park Montessori Center, where she experienced an education grounded in shared leadership and respect for all people. Time spent at the Rochester Folk Art Guild nurtured her love of nature and cooperation. She later attended Hutchinson Central Technical High School and City Honors, graduating in 1996, and began her studies at the University at Buffalo. After the birth of her son, Bhakti Williams-Brown, in 1999, she deepened her commitment to family and community, earning a bachelor of arts degree in social structure, theory, and change from SUNY Empire State College.

A pivotal moment in 1998 solidified her dedication to justice. While serving on the Western New York Peace Center board of directors, she participated in a protest supporting farmworkers and was arrested alongside others, including United Farm Workers president Arturo Rodriguez. Witnessing the collective support that followed affirmed her commitment to organizing and coalition-building.

Williams has built her career in mission-driven nonprofit work. From 2012 to 2021, she worked at Massachusetts Avenue Project, helping to co-found the Good Food Buffalo Coalition. She has participated in national leadership programs, co-authored work on reparations and food justice, and held numerous board and advisory roles. Since 2021, she has led Food for the Spirit, working with frontline communities to advance food sovereignty.

Williams lives in the Finger Lakes region with her partner, Peter O’Biso. She remains deeply connected to Buffalo and is committed to building a more just and equitable food system for future generations.

Top photo by Jesse Steffan-Colucci, Buffalo State photographer; headshots courtesy of subjects.