2 MAY 2026 MIAMI
This program is for ceremonial purposes only and is not to be considered an official confirmation of degree information. It contains only those details available at the publication deadline.
We ask those in attendance to kindly silence their electronic devices and to remain in their seats until the platform party has left the stage and the graduate recessional has finished.
Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and recognized leader in experiential learning, renowned for its innovative approach to education. Yet its origins were remarkably humble.
At the end of the 19th century, immigrants and first-generation Americans constituted more than half of Boston’s population. Among the city’s institutions committed to helping newcomers improve their lives, the Boston YMCA stood out as a gathering place where young men attended lectures on literature, history, music, and other subjects considered essential to intellectual growth.
In response to enthusiastic demand for these lectures, the YMCA directors organized the Evening Institute for Young Men in May 1896. Frank Palmer Speare, a well-known teacher and high school principal, was hired as the institute’s director. Two years later, the YMCA established the “Department of Law of the Boston YMCA,” and on October 3, 1898, Robert Gray Dodge taught the first class. This program was an immediate success and marked the birth of Northeastern University. Speare would later remark, “We started with an eraser and two sticks of chalk.”
As demand for additional courses grew, Speare expanded the offerings. In 1909, full-time day colleges began instruction. That same year, the Evening Polytechnic School announced “cooperative engineering courses,” providing students opportunities to apply classroom knowledge in the workplace—the genesis of Northeastern’s signature cooperative education program.
The institution continued to grow, establishing the College of Business in 1922. More space was needed. The university acquired the former home of the Boston Red Sox in 1929, and in 1934, the distinguished Boston architectural firm Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson, and Abbott was awarded the contract to design Richards Hall. Employing what would become a Boston campus signature—white brick—the firm created a neoclassical building. Opened in 1938, Richards Hall became the first structure on the front quadrangle.
As the physical campus expanded, so did academic programs. The addition of the College of Liberal Arts in 1935 signaled the institution’s evolution toward becoming a major university.
When Speare stepped down as president in 1940, Carl Stephens Ell, dean of the College of Engineering, succeeded him. Under Ell’s leadership, Northeastern admitted women to fulltime day programs for the first time.
In the postwar era, Northeastern experienced phenomenal enrollment growth. The university expanded programs to accommodate an increasingly diverse student population. Additional colleges were established in rapid succession: College of Education, 1953; University College, 1960; College of Pharmacy, 1962; College of Nursing, 1964; Boston Bouvé College, 1964; College of Criminal Justice, 1967; and College of Computer Science, 1982.
This expansion required substantial physical growth. When Ell retired in 1959, Asa S. Knowles assumed the presidency. Under his leadership, the university acquired suburban properties in Weston, Nahant, and Burlington, Massachusetts. The Boston campus flourished with new construction, including undergraduate dormitories for the growing residential student population at what had primarily been a commuter campus.
Kenneth G. Ryder succeeded Knowles in 1975, bringing unique perspective as someone who had risen from history department faculty member to executive vice president. Under his leadership, the university expanded programs, particularly in arts and humanities, while continuing facilities improvements. Plans for Snell Library were finalized, and the campus was beautified. Northeastern also deepened its commitment to Boston and surrounding neighborhoods.
In 1989, Ryder stepped down as the fourth president of the university. He was succeeded by John A. Curry, Northeastern’s executive vice president and its first alumnus to become president. Under Curry’s direction, the university embarked on a series of ambitious undertakings, including a science and engineering research center, a state-of-the-art classroom building, a recreation complex, and several new undergraduate and graduate programs.
To support these new ventures, Curry led a successful fundraising campaign; his tenure also featured significant institutional restructuring as the university prepared to enter its second century. After four decades of service, Curry retired in 1996, and the trustees elected Richard M. Freeland as the sixth president.
Elevating
A distinguished historian and administrator, President Freeland brought to the university a renewed sense of energy and mission. His initiatives supported his vision of Northeastern as a university that would be student-centered, practice-oriented, and urban. The university developed the West Campus with architecturally acclaimed residence halls and teaching facilities for the health sciences and computer science, and added new spaces to enrich campus life.
When Freeland stepped down in 2006, Joseph E. Aoun, an internationally recognized linguistics scholar, became Northeastern’s seventh president. President Aoun came from the University of Southern California, where he served as dean of the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. He developed an academic plan outlining the university’s vision in several areas: experiential learning, global outreach, use-inspired research, urban engagement, and intellectual life. He significantly expanded global co-op opportunities, and he aligned research with three worldwide imperatives—health, security, and sustainability— emphasizing interdisciplinary solutions.
Under Aoun’s leadership, Northeastern launched a campus system designed as platforms for lifelong learning aligned with regional economies. The first locations opened in Charlotte, North Carolina (2011), and Seattle (2013); additional campuses followed in Silicon Valley, California (2015), and Toronto (2016).
In 2016, Aoun led development of a new academic plan, Northeastern 2025, a blueprint for transforming the institution into a global university system—featuring networks of learners and innovators— designed to empower people to succeed in this era of unprecedented technological change. The university expanded its global campuses as platforms for learning, research, and industry partnerships. In 2019, Northeastern opened a Vancouver location and acquired New College of the Humanities in London, now officially Northeastern University London, offering undergraduates a unique opportunity to earn a dual U.S./U.K. degree. Later in 2019, Northeastern launched a research campus in Arlington, Virginia, complementing two existing research campuses in Nahant and Burlington, Massachusetts (formed in 1967 and 2012, respectively).
In January 2020, technology entrepreneur David Roux and his wife, Barbara, established the Roux Institute in Portland, Maine. The institute focuses on graduate studies and research in fields such as artificial intelligence, digital engineering, and advanced life sciences, amplified by industry partnerships. It was specifically designed to be a model of how higher education can ignite economic development in regions of the country largely bypassed by the innovation economy, setting a new bar for what the global university system could achieve.
Resilience and momentum
The revolutionary vision that inspired Northeastern 2025 infuses the university’s latest academic plan, Experience Unleashed. The plan is designed to deepen the impact of Northeastern’s global network by maximizing the power of experience to understand and solve the world’s interconnected, ever-evolving challenges.
In 2022, the university merged with Mills College in Oakland, California, becoming the first institution with comprehensive residential campuses for undergraduate and graduate students on both U.S. coasts. In 2023, Northeastern opened a Miami campus featuring graduate education and innovation partnerships aligned with South Florida’s economic growth. The following year, the university announced a New York City campus through a merger with Marymount Manhattan College.
Through dedication and vision, Frank Palmer Speare’s “eraser and two sticks of chalk” have evolved into one of the world’s most innovative universities. Our faculty collaborates fluidly with experts across industry, government, and community organizations. Ideas and solutions can be scaled. And our students are empowered to be global citizens, scientists, entrepreneurs, and creators—prepared to make lasting impact wherever they go.
Processional
Platform Party led by the Commencement Marshal Jia Zhu
Assistant Teaching Professor, Khoury College of Computer Sciences
Candidates for Master’s Degrees
Faculty
National Anthem
Marshal Jia Zhu
Assistant Teaching Professor, Khoury College of Computer Sciences
Welcome and Introduction of Student Speakers
Begoña Rovira
Associate Dean, Northeastern University in Miami
Student Commencement Speaker
Chris Martin, ’26
Laurel and Scroll 100 Award Presentation
Angela Hosking
Dean and CEO, Northeastern University in Charlotte
Introduction of Commencement Speaker
Maria Alonso
Dean and CEO, Northeastern University in Miami
Commencement Address
Ibis Valdés, ’15
Citation Presentation
Maria Alonso
Dean and CEO, Northeastern University in Miami
Degrees in Course
Maria Alonso
Dean and CEO, Northeastern University in Miami
Degree Conferral
Angela Hosking
Dean and CEO, Northeastern University in Charlotte
Honoring of Graduates
Begoña Rovira
Associate Dean, Northeastern University in Miami
Introduction of Alumni Representative
Begoña Rovira
Associate Dean, Northeastern University in Miami
Alumni Greeting
Kayla Lawhorn, ’21
Recognition of the Dean’s Service
Angela Hosking
Dean and CEO, Northeastern University in Charlotte
Class Charge
Maria Alonso
Dean and CEO, Northeastern University in Miami
Recessional
The audience is requested to remain seated during the recessional.
Led by Marshal Jia Zhu, Assistant Teaching Professor, Khoury College of Computer Sciences
Platform Party Faculty
Graduates
Commencement Speaker
Ibis Valdés
Ibis Valdés has devoted her career to the idea that meaningful change requires both global perspective and deep local roots, and that lasting progress is forged at the intersection of policy, community, and human dignity. A public policy expert and human rights advocate, she brings a global lens and a community organizer’s instincts to some of the most consequential conversations in public life today.
Valdés has forged a distinguished record of civic leadership across South Florida and beyond. As president of the League of Women Voters of Miami-Dade County, she was a driving force in advancing voter education and civic participation, while her work with the Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Miami-Dade County has championed women-owned businesses and underserved communities—efforts recognized by a nomination for the 2024 Thelma Gibson Award for excellence in civic engagement and economic development. As Hispanic vote director for the Florida Democratic Party, she expanded Latino stakeholder engagement across the state, demonstrating an exceptional ability to connect with diverse audiences and address their most pressing needs.
Her advocacy resonates far beyond the policy arena. Her work alongside student activists to amplify awareness for survivors of sexual violence, most notably through the landmark documentary The Hunting Ground, earned global recognition and an invitation from the team of pop legend Lady Gaga to attend the 2016 Academy Awards as a standard-bearer for that cause. That same sphere of influence earned her an invitation to the White House in April 2024 to participate as a Cuban American stakeholder in national policy discussions shaping consequential dialogue for her community and the country.
A celebrated public speaker, sought-after consultant, and published writer, Valdés has lent her voice to timely conversations on immigration, economic development, and women’s rights. She was named one of the Miami-based Brickell Magazine’s Top 20 Under 40, in 2024.
Valdés earned her bachelor’s degree in political science and government at Northeastern University. She holds a Master of Arts in International Law and Human Rights from the UNmandated University for Peace in Costa Rica, with a focus on international development and economic rights.
Master of Science in Information Systems
Han Shao
Master of Science in Project Management
Chris Martin Daniel Nicolas Mattar Labban
Master of Science in Computer Science
Erdun E
Naveen Kumanan
Fengkai Liu
Qingyuan Wan
The Outstanding Global Network Student Award recognizes students pursing master’s or professional doctoral degrees in studies at one of Northeastern’s global campuses and who have excelled in one or more of the following areas: academics, research, leadership, teaching, and real-world impact.
Chris Martin College of Professional Studies
Established in 2024, the Laurel and Scroll 100 honors exceptional graduate and professional students in their final year of study across Northeastern’s global campuses. The esteemed recognition, one of the university’s Societies of Distinction, celebrates students whose achievements, leadership, and character reflect the very best of Northeastern.
Khoury College of Computer Sciences
Joseph E. Aoun, President
Beth A. Winkelstein, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Kenneth W. Henderson, Chancellor and Senior Vice President for Learning
Michael Armini, Senior Vice President for External Affairs
Mary Ludden, Senior Vice President for Global Network and Strategic Initiatives
Diane Nishigaya MacGillivray, Senior Vice President for University Advancement
Thomas Nedell, Senior Vice President for Finance and Treasurer
Mary B. Strother, Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Gregory Abowd, College of Engineering
Rajesh Aggarwal, Interim, D’Amore-McKim School of Business
Jared Auclair, College of Professional Studies
James R. Hackney, School of Law
R. Benjamin Knapp, College of Arts, Media and Design
Beth D. Kochly, Mills College at Northeastern University
Elizabeth D. Mynatt, Khoury College of Computer Sciences
Brent Nelson, Interim, College of Science
Carmen Sceppa, Bouvé College of Health Sciences
Kellee Tsai, College of Social Sciences and Humanities
Members of the Board of Trustees
Richard D’Amore, Chair
Edward Galante, Vice Chair
Alan McKim, Vice Chair
Joseph E. Aoun, Ex Officio
Jeffrey Bornstein
Subodh Chanrai
Alice Chinebuah
Jeffrey Clarke
William Conley
Deborah Dunsire
Spencer Fung
Sir Lucian Grainge, CBE
David House
Frances Janis
Chaitanya Kanojia
Amin Khoury
William Lowell
Todd Manganaro
Honorary Trustees
Scott M. Black
Charles K. Gifford
Trustees Emeriti
Barbara C. Alleyne
George D. Behrakis, Vice Chair Emeritus
Margot Botsford
Frederick Brodsky
Frederick L. Brown
Peter B. Cameron
Richard P. Chapman Jr., Vice Chair Emeritus
William J. Cotter
John J. Cullinane
Harry T. Daniels
James Pallotta
Irene Panagopoulos
John Pulichino
Jean Eric Salata
Kathleen Sanborn
Winslow Sargeant
Jeannine Sargent
Maha Shair
Shelley Stewart Jr.
Hemant Taneja
Jean-Pascal Tricoire
Christopher Viehbacher
Gregory Waters
Christophe Weber
Lucille R. Zanghi
Susan S. Deitch
Neal F. Finnegan, Chair Emeritus
W. Kevin Fitzgerald
Arnold S. Hiatt
William S. Howard
Venetia Kontogouris
Richard G. Lesser
Diane H. Lupean
Roger M. Marino
Katherine S. McHugh, Vice Chair Emerita
Kathryn M. Nicholson
Arthur A. Pappas
Marcy L. Reed
Ronald L. Rossetti
Ronald Sargent
Carole J. Shapazian, Vice Chair Emerita
Robert J. Shillman
Janet M. Smith
Corporators Emeriti
Salah Al Wazzan
Quincy L. Allen
Tarek As’ad
Robert J. Awkward
Vincent F. Barletta
Richard L. Bready
John F. Burke Jr.
William P. Casey
Lawrence G. Cetrulo
Nassib G. Chamoun
William D. Chin
Steven J. Cody
Timothy J. Connelly
Joseph J. Cronin
Richard J. DeAgazio
Kevin A. DeNuccio
Robin W. Devereux
Robert E. DiCenso
Priscilla H. Douglas
Adriane J. Dudley
Michael J. Egan
Douglas M. Epstein
Joseph D. Feaster Jr.
Louise Firth Campbell
Lisa D. Foster
Francis A. Gicca
Gary R. Gregg
Nancy E. B. Haynes
Charles C. Hewitt III
Roderick Ireland
Mary Kay Leonard
Mark A. Krentzman
Joseph C. Lawler
Sy Sternberg, Chair Emeritus
Jean C. Tempel, Vice Chair Emerita
Alan D. Tobin, Vice Chair Emeritus
Joseph Tucci
Catherine A. White
Arthur W. Zafiropoulo
Michael Zamkow
Ellen M. Zane
M Benjamin Lipman
George A. MacConnell
Susan B. Major
Paul V. McDonough
Thomas P. McDonough
Kathleen McFeeters
Susan A. Morelli
Francis E. Murphy
James Q. Nolan Jr.
Peter J. Ogren
Lawrence A. O’Rourke
Leonard C. Perham
Valerie W. Perlowitz
Steven Picheny
John E. Pritchard
Eugene M. Reppucci Jr.
Rhondella Richardson
Patrick A. Rivelli
David J. Ryan
George P. Sakellaris
Richard A. Schoenfeld
Peter J. Smail
Karen Tay Koh
Gordon O. Thompson
Alexander L. Thorndike
James R. Turner
Mark L. Vachon
Laurie B. Werner
E. Leo Whitworth
Donald K. Williams Jr.
Donald L. Williams
Richard R. Yuse
The Registrar of the university maintains the official list of all graduates. This program is for ceremonial purposes only.