Three women in STEM will represent each of their classes as student speakers for the degrees to be conferred—bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral—at University of Massachusetts Amherst 2026 Commencement ceremonies taking place May 9-16.

Doctoral Hooding Ceremony Speaker

Saturday, May 9, 10 a.m. - Mullins Center

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Ogechi Vivian Nwadiaru, of Awo-Omamma, Imo State, Nigeria, is graduating with a doctorate in industrial engineering and operations research. Previously, she completed an International Climate Protection Fellowship funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, investigating Nigeria’s energy transition and the proliferation of fossil backup generators.

Nwadiaru’s doctoral studies focused on integrating equity and community values into energy system planning models and decision-making. She was awarded a Spaulding-Smith Fellowship from the UMass Graduate School, a National Science Foundation Research Traineeship from the Energy Transition Institute’s ELEVATE program, and an American Association of University Women Fellowship. In 2024, she was named to the Society of Women Engineers’ list of “Women Engineers You Should Know.”

Nwadiaru takes the most pride in her teaching and mentoring work, from leading a first-year seminar to designing a pre-college course through University Without Walls. Beyond campus, she has led numerous outreach activities at schools in western Massachusetts and founded a nonprofit in Nigeria that supports student engagement in STEM subjects. 

Following Commencement, Nwadiaru plans to pursue professional opportunities in energy systems research and strategy, with a focus on equity and resilience. Her goal is to develop and apply data-driven, community-informed solutions that support an inclusive and sustainable energy transition in the United States and globally, while continuing to build initiatives that expand access to STEM and innovation.
 

Master’s and Education Specialists Commencement Ceremony Speaker

Friday, May 15, 9 a.m. - Mullins Center

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Mansi Maheshwari of Gwalior, India, is graduating with a master’s degree in computer science. The first in her extended family to study abroad, she earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Washington (UW) and worked for two years as a software engineer in Seattle before beginning her graduate studies.

At UMass, Maheshwari quickly distinguished herself as a scholar. Her first-authored paper was accepted as a poster at the 2025 Conference on Lifelong Learning Agents and then as a full paper and oral presentation at the 2026 International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, a top international conference in AI. 

She further distinguished herself as the only student from the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences selected as a finalist for the university’s 2025 Three Minute Thesis competition. In summer 2025, she applied her expertise to the real world by building computer vision systems for autonomous tractors. Passionate about creating pathways into AI for young learners, she also designed and taught a Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence course for high school students through UW’s Youth & Teen Programs.

After graduation, Maheshwari will pursue a doctorate at Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, home to the world’s largest academic concentration of deep learning researchers. Her long-term vision is to advance human–AI collaboration and expand access to AI education globally.
 

156th UMass Amherst Undergraduate Commencement Speaker

Friday, May 15, 5 p.m. - McGuirk Alumni Stadium

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Shhreya Anand, of Bangalore, India, graduates from UMass Amherst with dual degrees in computer science and math. Her hard work has brought distinction: She earned the Undergraduate Academic Achievement Award and Outstanding Leadership Award in 2025, and she was invited to join the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi for ranking in the top 10 percent of her class.

As a woman in STEM, Anand has created an inclusive environment for students of all identities, serving as a mentor through the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences’ Alumni Mentorship Program and as president of the UMass Amherst Data Science and Machine Learning Club, where she fostered data-driven learning through workshops, datathons and guest lectures. She has also participated in many hackathons across the country.

While pursuing her degrees, Anand conducted reinforcement learning research under Professor Bruno Castro da Silva, presenting her work at the Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference, and acted as a quantitative researcher with the Minutemen Alternative Investment Fund. She also held several internships, including at Micron, where she worked on optimization problems for vision-language models and published a whitepaper with her findings, and at Dassault Systèmes on its R&D team.

After Commencement, Anand plans to return to industry, pursuing machine learning research and development work.

More information about UMass Amherst’s 2026 Commencement ceremonies and senior celebrations can be found at UMass.edu/Commencement.