Meet the Keynote Speaker
Nancy Castle Donahue ’78
We are honored to announce that Nancy Castle Donahue ’78 will deliver the Lasell University Undergraduate Commencement address for the Class of 2025.
Nancy Castle Donahue is recognized for her creativity and her entrepreneurial spirit. With a background in sales and project management and exceptional communications skills, Donahue has excelled in diverse business sectors. The Lasell University graduate also received a degree in Culinary Studies from Newbury College and graduated at the top of her class.
A top model who was discovered while still in school, Donahue appeared on numerous magazine covers — from Mademoiselle, Vogue, Harpar’s Bazaar and The New York Times to British Vogue and Redbook, her image was captured by world-class photographers including Richard Avedon, Arthur Elgort, Eric Boman, Denis Piel and Irving Penn. A star on fashion runways in New York and Hong Kong, Donahue modeled for
influential American designers including Perry Ellis and Calvin Klein. Throughout the 1980’s, Donahue was among an elite group of models, regularly working alongside Christie Brinkley, Kim Alexis, and Kelly Emberg. In demand from advertisers, she was featured in national campaigns for celebrated brands including Clairol, Revlon and Avon and catalogues for high end retailers including Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus.
Donahue was also a Pastry Chef for a high-end catering company and a fitness director of a country club in Acton, Massachusetts. She then went on to become the co-founder and CEO of BelleCore bodybuffers which was a well-known beauty/wellness tool which could be found in all of the top stores throughout the world such as Harrod’s of London, Bloomingdales and Bergdorf Goodman.
More recently, Donahue, a proud New Yorker, is a Licensed Real Estate Associate Broker at Keller Williams NYC, a full-service, luxury real estate brokerage specializing in residential sales and leasing, new development, commercial, and retail.