At which university did J.K. Rowling give the 2008 commencement address?

J.K. Rowling gave the 2008 commencement address at Harvard University.

She spoke at Harvard’s 2008 Commencement ceremony on 5 June 2008. Her address became widely known for its focus on the benefits of failure and the importance of imagination. Harvard later published the speech as the short book Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination.

Rowling’s speech was not a lecture about the technical craft of writing Harry Potter. Instead, she drew on her experiences before literary success, including financial hardship and uncertainty, to discuss how setbacks can clarify priorities. She also connected imagination with empathy and the ability to understand lives different from one’s own.

The event is often remembered as a major public appearance because it presented Rowling’s personal reflections directly to graduating students. Harvard is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, not the University of Cambridge in England.