Wesleyan’s 192nd Commencement Ceremony is on Sunday, May 26 at 11 a.m. Faculty and Undergraduates assemble on the top of Foss Hill at 10 a.m. The ceremony will take place on Andrus Field in the center of campus, rain or shine, and will last approximately 2½ hours. The ceremony may also be viewed online.

All are welcome to join us for Reunion + Commencement Weekend, May 23–26—three days of programming and events celebrating our reunion alumni and graduating students! Families of graduating students attending only the Sunday Commencement Ceremony do not need to register or check in for the weekend. Those attending Friday and Saturday activities or wish to purchase meal tickets should register by May 13. 

At Commencement, we will be recognizing three inspiring leaders with honorary degrees: Imani Perry, a 2023 MacArthur Fellow and distinguished Harvard University professor, who will also deliver the Commencement address; Raj Chetty, renowned for his studies of higher education and social mobility; and Michael Greenberg ’76, P’14, one of the world’s most distinguished neuroscientists.

2024 Commencement Ceremony Live Broadcast
10:45 a.m. EDT, May 26

Join us here at 10:45 a.m. EDT on May 26 to view the Commencement Ceremony live.

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Commencement Speakers

Imani Perry

Imani Perry is the Henry A. Morss, Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies and African American Studies at Harvard University where she is also Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Perry is the author of eight books, including South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation which received the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction, and other award-winning titles: Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry and May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem.

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Raj Chetty

Raj Chetty is the William A. Ackman Professor of Public Economics at Harvard University. He is also the Director of Opportunity Insights, which uses “big data” to understand how we can give children from disadvantaged backgrounds better chances of succeeding. Chetty's research combines empirical evidence and economic theory to help design more effective government policies. His work on topics ranging from tax policy and unemployment insurance to education and affordable housing has been widely cited in academia, media outlets, and Congressional testimony. Chetty received his PhD from Harvard University in 2003 and is one of the youngest tenured professors in Harvard's history.

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Michael Greenberg ’76, P’14

Michael Greenberg received a BA in Chemistry from Wesleyan University in 1976, and a PhD in Biochemistry from the Rockefeller University, New York, in 1982. In 1986 he was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Genetics at Harvard Medical School, and he was made full Professor in 1994. Since 2008 he has been the Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. Greenberg’s seminal discoveries of activity-dependent gene transcription have revealed how nature and nurture cooperate to shape mammalian brain development and plasticity. Building on his early observation that neurotransmitter reception triggers the rapid induction of new gene expression, his work has focused on elucidating the nature and role of neuronal transcriptional programs induced in response to extracellular stimuli.

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Michael S. Roth '78

Michael S. Roth '78 became the 16th president of Wesleyan University on July 1, 2007. A professor in history and the humanities, he continues to teach undergraduate courses and is known as a historian, curator, author, and public advocate for liberal education.

Read the President's full bio