Helmut Schmidt, the former Chancellor of West Germany, will speak at the MIT's commencement ceremony in late May, MIT President Paul E. Gray, said yesterday.

Gray called Schmidt "an outstanding world leader who can help members of our graduating class better understand the world in which we live."

Kenneth E. Dumas', president of MIT's senior class and a member of the selection committee, said that Schmidt will probably speak more openly about world affairs since he is no longer Chancellor. He added that "he would probably both have something relevant to say and not necessarily support a specific cause."

Schmidt is only the second outside speaker to address the MIT commencement ceremonies in the last 20 years. Katherine Graham, Chairman and Executive Officer of the Washington Post Co., who spoke last year, was the first.

Schmidt spoke at the 1979 Harvard commencement when he was still head of the Federal Republic of Germany. In that address, Schmidt argued strongly in favor of the second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.

According to Dumas, MIT students wanted a speaker who was involved in the nuclear arms issue to speak.