Northeastern announces commencement speakers for 2026 ceremonies
Singer and actress Hilary Duff will hit the commencement stage at Fenway Park to speak to undergraduate students on April 29. But commencement festivities go well beyond that.
A multiplatinum global superstar and a global entrepreneur are among the many speakers at Northeastern University commencements taking place in the coming weeks.
Hilary Duff, a singer and movie star, and Alan McKim, founder of the environmental cleanup company Clean Harbors, will be speaking at the university’s undergraduate and graduate ceremonies, respectively, at Fenway Park in Boston, on Wednesday, April 29.
Northeastern has also announced the speakers for the ceremonies that will span its global campuses, various colleges and schools. Northeastern Global News has all the information you need to know about the celebrations. This list will be updated as more details are announced.
Note: All event times are local.
BOSTON COMMENCEMENTS
Boston Graduate Ceremony
Date: Wednesday, April 29
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Fenway Park
Speaker: The founder of environmental remediation company Clean Harbors, Alan McKim is also a Northeastern graduate, trustee and one of the namesakes of Northeastern’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business.
Boston Undergraduate Ceremony
Date: Wednesday, April 29
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Fenway Park
Speaker: Hilary Duff is an actor best known for her titular role on the TV series “Lizzie McGuire.” She is also a multiplatinum musician, with hit songs like “Come Clean” and “What Dreams Are Made Of.”
GLOBAL CAMPUS COMMENCEMENTS
Miami
Date: Saturday, May 2
Time: 12 p.m.
Location: Northeastern University’s Miami campus
Speaker: Ibis Valdes, Northeastern class of 2015, serves as director of engagement for Miami-Dade County under Mayor Diane Levine Cava, putting the mayor and local government in front of the public to ensure the Office’s work is aligned with the needs of the Miami community.
Arlington
Date: Friday, May 8
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: George Washington Masonic National Memorial Hall
Speaker: Jennifer Taylor, who serves as president and CEO of the Northeastern Virginia Technology Council, a trade association representing Northern Virginia’s robust community of technology businesses, from startups to Fortune 100 companies.
Charlotte
Date: Tuesday, May 12
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Dale F. Halton Theater
Speaker: Ricky Singh is executive director of the initiative known as My Brother’s Keeper Charlotte-Mecklenburg, the North Carolina offshoot of the national program started by President Barack Obama to address the opportunity gap faced by young men in marginalized communities.
Vancouver
Date: Thursday, May 14
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: The Centre
Speaker: Bill Tam is a boundary-pushing technology developer and investor who co-founded Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster and currently serves on the board of AIinBC, a network for AI professionals based in Vancouver.
Oakland and Silicon Valley
Date: Saturday, May 16
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Holmgren Meadow, Oakland campus
Speaker: Yanbing Li is chief product officer for Datadog, a leading security platform for cloud-based applications used by companies, including Samsung, Comcast, Lego and The Washington Post.
Seattle
Date: Thursday, May 21
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Benaroya Hall
Speaker: Sangeetha Visweswaran is vice president of engineering at Microsoft.
Toronto
Date: Tuesday, May 26
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Meridian Hall
Speaker: Neelam Bance, a healthcare innovator, is the CEO and founder of MedGeneius, a personalized medicine company aiming to increase the efficacy and reduce the adverse side effects of medication, and secure healthcare data company ODINsight Canada.
COLLEGE AND SCHOOL CEREMONIES
Doctor of Philosophy Commencement
Date: Friday, April 24
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
Speaker: Cynthia Friend is the president and CEO of the non-profit Kavli Foundation, which supports scientific research while enhancing public understanding and support for scientists.
School of Law Commencement
Date: Friday, April 24
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
Speaker: Lois Cornell, a 1986 Northeastern School of Law graduate, is the executive vice president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, the longest continuously operating state medical association in the U.S. and publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine.
College of Science Undergraduate Celebration 1
Date: Saturday, April 25
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
College of Science Undergraduate Celebration 2
Date: Saturday, April 25
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
College of Science Graduate Celebration
Date: Saturday, April 25
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
Khoury College of Computer Sciences Undergraduate Celebration
Date: Sunday, April 26
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
Khoury College of Computer Sciences Graduate Celebration
Date: Sunday, April 26
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
College of Arts, Media and Design Undergraduate and Graduate Celebration
Date: Sunday, April 26
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
College of Social Science and Humanities Undergraduate and Graduate Celebration
Date: Monday, April 27
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
Bouvé College of Health Sciences Doctorate Celebration
Date: Monday, April 27
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Blackman Auditorium
College of Engineering Undergraduate Celebration 1
Date: Monday, April 27
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
College of Engineering Undergraduate Celebration 2
Date: Monday, April 27
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
School of Nursing Pinning
Date: Monday, April 27
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Blackman Auditorium
Speaker: Cindy Friedman, a former public school teacher and community organizer, has served as a Massachusetts state senator since 2017, representing the 4th Middlesex District.
Editor’s Picks
Bouvé College of Health Sciences Undergraduate and Graduate Celebration
Date: Tuesday, April 28
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
D’Amore-McKim School of Business Undergraduate Celebration 1
Date: Tuesday, April 28
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
D’Amore-McKim School of Business Undergraduate Celebration 2
Date: Tuesday, April 28
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
College of Engineering Graduate Celebration 1
Date: Thursday, April 30
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
College of Engineering Graduate Celebration 2
Date: Thursday, April 30
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
D’Amore-McKim School of Business Graduate Celebration
Date: Thursday, April 30
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
College of Professional Studies Commencement
Date: Friday, May 1
Ceremony 1
Time: 10 a.m.
Ceremony 2
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Leader Bank Pavilion
Speaker: Justine Siegal is an American baseball coach and founder of the Women’s Pro Baseball League, whose inaugural season kicks off on Aug. 1, 2026. She previously served as the associate director of sports partnerships at Northeastern’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society.
College of Professional Studies Doctoral Commencement
Date: Friday, Aug. 21
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Blackman Auditorium
