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Northeastern announces speakers for 2025 global campus commencements, and college and school ceremonies

Diane Gonzalez, vice president of technology and finance automation at Amazon, will address Oakland graduates on Sunday, April 27.

A graduate's cap on graduation day.
Northeastern has announced the speakers for commencement ceremonies at many of its global campuses. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

Northeastern University recently announced the speaker for its undergraduate commencement exercises on Sunday, May 11, at Fenway Park in Boston.

Elliot Grainge, the CEO of Atlantic Music Group and a Northeastern graduate, will address undergraduate students at 4 p.m. 

The graduate speaker ceremony, and additional speakers, will be announced soon.

Meanwhile, Northeastern has also announced the speakers for commencement ceremonies at many of its global campuses, as well as college and school ceremonies and celebrations.

GLOBAL CAMPUS COMMENCEMENTS

Oakland
Sunday, April 27
11 a.m., Holmgren Meadow
Speaker: Diane Gonzalez, vice president of technology and finance automation at Amazon

Charlotte
Friday, May 2
3 p.m., Charlotte Campus
Speaker: Cassandra M. Friend, military and veteran liaison at Northeastern and principal consultant and co-founder of Kavalyn Custom Solutions

Silicon Valley
Sunday, May 18
2 p.m., California Theatre
Speaker: Rama Akkiraju, vice president, artificial intelligence and machine learning IT, Nvidia

Seattle 
Tuesday, May 20
4 p.m., Benaroya Hall
Speaker: Tanuja Korlepra, chief technology officer at Bonterra, a company that provides software and services to support social impact organizations.

Toronto 
Tuesday, May 27
4 p.m., Meridian Hall
Speaker: Vik Pant, chief data scientist and emerging technology leader of PwC Canada

Vancouver 
Thursday, May 29
4 p.m., The Centre
Speaker: Anna Baird, chief customer officer for Google Cloud Generative AI Go To Market

London
Friday, June 6
1 p.m., Queen Elizabeth Hall
Speaker: Sujit Bhatt, worldwide head of digital and partner ecosystem for AI applications at IBM

Arlington
Wednesday, June 11
4 p.m., George Washington Masonic National Memorial Hall
Speaker: Alex Orfinger, market president and publisher of the Washington Business Journal

Portland
Friday, June 13
4 p.m., Merrill Auditorium

COLLEGE AND SCHOOL CEREMONIES

Doctor of Philosophy Hooding and Commencement
Monday, April 28
3 p.m., Matthews Arena
Speaker: Margaret Faul, vice president and site lead for Amgen Massachusetts

College of Professional Studies Commencement
Wednesday, April 30
Ceremony 1
10 a.m., Matthews Arena
Speaker: Alexandra Drane, entrepreneur and co-founder/CEO of Archangels

Ceremony 2
3 p.m., Matthews Arena
Speaker: Alexandra Drane, entrepreneur and co-founder/CEO of Archangels

College of Professional Studies Doctoral Commencement
Thursday, May 1
10:30 a.m., Matthews Arena

School of Law Commencement
Friday, May 2
1 p.m., Matthews Arena
Speaker: Ralph Martin, partner at Prince Lobel Tye LLP and former senior vice president and general counsel at Northeastern

College of Engineering, Graduate
Monday, May 5
Matthews Arena
10 a.m., MGEN-MSIS Information Systems
12:30 p.m., MIE/MGEN (All remaining)
3 p.m., MIE/MS Data Analytics Engineering, Engineering Management
5:30 p.m., CEE/BIOE/CHEME/ECE

Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Doctorate
Tuesday, May 6
9 a.m., Matthews Arena

Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Undergraduate and Graduate
Tuesday, May 6
1:30 p.m., Matthews Arena
Speaker: Daniel Levangie, chairman, president and CEO of CereVasc, an early-stage medical device company.

Khoury College of Computer Science, Undergraduate
Wednesday, May 7
9 a.m., Matthews Arena

Khoury College of Computer Science, Graduate
Wednesday, May 7
1:30 p.m., Matthews Arena

College of Arts, Media & Design, Graduate and Undergraduate
Wednesday, May 7
6 p.m., Matthews Arena

School of Nursing Pinning
Thursday, May 8
4 p.m., Blackman Auditorium

D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Undergraduate (1)
Thursday, May 8
9 a.m., Matthews Arena
Speaker: David Powers, CEO Deckers Outdoor Corporation and 1989 Northeastern graduate

D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Undergraduate (2)
Thursday, May 8
1:30 p.m., Matthews Arena
Speaker: Vivek Sharma, executive chairman of Suven Pharmaceuticals, and executive chairman of Apollo Intelligence

D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Graduate
Thursday, May 8
6:30 p.m., Matthews Arena

College of Science, Undergraduate (1)
Friday, May 9
9 a.m., Matthews Arena

College of Science, Undergraduate (2)
Friday, May 9
1:30 p.m., Matthews Arena

College of Science, Graduate
Friday, May 9
6 p.m., Matthews Arena

John D. O’Bryant African American Institute Baccalaureate
Friday, May 9
4 p.m., Blackman Auditorium

College of Social Sciences & Humanities, Graduate & Undergraduate
Saturday, May 10
9 a.m., Matthews Arena

College of Engineering, Undergraduate
Saturday, May 10
1:30 p.m., Matthews Arena
Speaker: Stephen Lynch, president and CEO of Intellastar and 1989 Northeastern graduate