The University of Massachusetts Amherst Graduate School conferred doctoral degrees to 393 recipients—including 175 international students representing more than 60 countries—during a ceremony held this morning at the William D. Mullins Memorial Center before more than 3,000 assembled family, friends and faculty members. 

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The Doctoral Hooding Ceremony was the first of many special events marking the university’s 156th Commencement, which will include Undergraduate Commencement and the Master’s and Education Specialists Commencement ceremony on Friday, May 15; the Stockbridge School of Agriculture ceremony on Saturday, May 16; and many other school and college Senior Recognition ceremonies.

Graduate School Interim Dean and Senior Vice Provost for Graduate Education Beth Jakob presided over the celebration, noting that the diverse members of the class range in age from 19 to 78 years old. She reflected on her own graduate school experience and encouraged the class to remember the difficulty of the accomplishment they have achieved, noting that “There is a reason why only about 2% of the U.S. population has a Ph.D.” 

Jakob concluded her remarks by asking the graduates to “take the resilience that you have honed here forward with you into your careers. The world needs your skills, your hard work, your knowledge, and your motivation.” 

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In his remarks, UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier A. Reyes acknowledged that the Doctoral Class of 2026—representing the 51 doctoral degree programs offered by the university—is heading out into “unsettling times.” But he encouraged them not to let that change define their realities, and instead “choose to be part of the change and help shape what comes next.”

“I encourage you to use your academic prowess and expertise to engage with the dynamics before us and shape the future that you want to see,” Reyes said. “For change does not have to be something that happens to you—it can be something that can happen because of you.”

“UMass Amherst is a hub of faculty excellence, scholarship and creative activity that serves as a powerful economic engine for the Commonwealth, bringing inventions and research discoveries to the marketplace,” said UMass Board of Trustees Vice Chair Mary Burns. “Members of the Class of 2026, you are about to graduate from one of the top public universities in the country and we know you are ready for what lies ahead because of the remarkable graduates you are.” 

“The degrees you receive today are a testament to your perseverance, your intellect and ingenuity, and your original contributions to our collective pursuit of knowledge,” Provost Fouad Abd-El Khalik told the graduates. “All this work was in preparation for your next, crucial step: To push the boundaries of knowledge in your field and make your own, unique contribution to the edifice of verified human knowledge.”

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Chosen as student speaker was Ogechi Vivian Nwadiaru, of Awo-Omamma, Imo State, Nigeria, a doctoral graduate in industrial engineering and operations research whose studies focused on integrating equity and community values into energy system planning models and decision-making. She related her journey from a 9-year-old attending boarding school a few miles from her Nigerian home to her “wildest imagination dream” of traveling 5,200 miles away to UMass Amherst, and the community she built over the years on campus and in the town of Amherst. She captured the experience using a Southern Africa word: Ubuntu, which means “I am because we are.”

“I watched Ubuntu lived out in our classrooms, in student organizations, in late-night study sessions, shared encouragement at countless dissertation writing retreats and on the heels of several funding cuts this same community rallied together to ensure students could complete their academic program with minimal disruption,” Nwadiaru said.

“It is a reminder that our humanity is bound up in one another, that our growth does not occur in isolation, and that our success is shaped by the care, sacrifices, and presence of others,” she added. “Community is not just where we come from. It is what we create. It is showing up. It is choosing care. It is remembering Ubuntu: that we rise together, even through uncertainty, only together.”

Prior to the hooding of the graduates, Wilmore Webley, senior vice provost of equity and inclusion and associate professor of microbiology, presented the Commitment to Diversity award to John Arigbede, of Ilé-Ifẹ̀, Osun State, Nigeria, a doctoral graduate in chemical engineering whose work combines scientific research, service and student leadership.

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Webley said Arigbede was being honored “for rebuilding graduate student community and belonging at UMass Amherst through strengthening of the Graduate Student Government and the development of signature initiatives such as the “We are One UMass” campaign; for expanding direct support for graduate students in need through travel grants, emergency assistance, and the student support fund; for advancing equity-centered institutional change through advocacy for accessibility, athletics equity, and women’s professional opportunities; and for making graduate student life more connected and supportive of others.”

Interim Dean Jakob then introduced Michelle-Kim Cohen ’03, president of the UMass Amherst Alumni Association, to welcome the doctoral class of 2026 as the association’s newest members, joining more than 300,000 UMass Amherst alumni worldwide. 

Cohen’s remarks were followed by the doctoral hooding ceremony and the conferring of degrees. 

For complete coverage of UMass Amherst Commencement Weekend on May 15-17, including livestreams of the Undergraduate Commencement and the Master’s and Education Specialists Commencement ceremonies, visit www.umass.edu/commencement.