Undergraduate Degree Ceremony

PROCESSIONAL
Killian Court Brass Ensemble
conducted by Kenneth Amis

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
“America the Beautiful”

Performed by:
   The Logarhythms

WELCOME
Sally Kornbluth
President

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
“Sonata for Violin & Piano in A Major” (arr. for cello)
IV. Allegretto poco mosso
by César Franck

Performed by:
   Eliana M. Shin ’26
   Cello; Department of Chemical Engineering
   Joel Tan ’26
   Piano; Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

ADDRESS AND INTRODUCTION
Melissa Nobles
Chancellor

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
“On the Sunny Side of the Street”
by Jimmy McHugh
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Arrangement by Laura Grill Jaye

Performed by:
   José Alejandro Reyes González ’26
   Vocals; Department of Mathematics

INTERLUDE
Killian Court Brass Ensemble

INTRODUCTION OF DEGREES
Anantha P. Chandrakasan
Provost

PRESENTATION OF DEGREES
Diplomas were presented by the School and College deans in a simultaneous, alternating pattern. Degree recipients approached from both sides of the stage, announced in alphabetical order by last name within their departments.

CLOSING
Sally Kornbluth
President

RECESSIONAL
Killian Court Brass Ensemble

Chancellor Nobles is the Class of 1922 professor of political science and has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1995. Before being appointed chancellor in 2021, she served as the Kenan Sahin Dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) and as head of the Department of Political Science.

As chancellor, Melissa Nobles is responsible for overseeing more than 60 interconnected offices that support undergraduate and graduate students’ academic success, foster community and well-being, and cultivate personal and intellectual growth. She works closely with senior leaders to develop and implement the Institute’s strategic priorities.

Throughout her distinguished career at MIT, Nobles’ leadership has resulted in the creation of a new theater building and the Edward and Joyce Linde music building, a state-of-the-art center for music research, innovation, and performance. Nobles also championed the pioneering “MIT & Slavery” research class; secured new support for graduate students, postdocs, and professorships in SHASS; and launched several labs focused on digital humanities, music technology, election data and science, and climate action.

Nobles’ teaching includes graduate courses in transitional justice, ethnic politics, and nationalism, as well as undergraduate courses in comparative politics, Latin American studies, ethnic conflict in world politics, and social movements in comparative perspective.

Her international, comparative research focuses on restorative justice in light of ethnic and racial conflicts. She is the author of two books, Shades of Citizenship: Race and the Census in Modern Politics (Stanford University Press, 2000) and The Politics of Official Apologies (Cambridge University Press, 2008), and is the co-editor with Jun-Hyeok Kwak of Inherited Responsibility and Historical Reconciliation in East Asia (Routledge Press, 2013). Her work has also appeared in the Annual Review of Political Science, Comparative Politics, Social Research, Daedalus, American Journal of Public Health, and several edited books.

Her current research is focused on examining racial murders in the American South, 1930–1954. Working closely as a faculty collaborator and advisory board member of Northeastern University Law School's Civil Rights and Restorative Justice law clinic, Nobles has conducted extensive archival research, unearthing understudied and previously unknown racial murders, and contributing to several legal investigations. In fall 2022, the Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive was publicly released for scholarly and public use. She contributes to the US national dialogue about racial equity through thoughtful research-based commentaries that draw on her scholarship in the field.

Nobles graduated from Brown University with a degree in history and received her MA and PhD in political science from Yale University. She has held fellowships at Boston University's Institute for Race and Social Division and Harvard University's Radcliffe Center for Advanced Study. She has served on the editorial boards of Polity, American Political Science Review, and Perspectives on Politics, as well as a guest editor for a special issue of Nature.

Nobles has also been involved in faculty governance at MIT and beyond, serving as associate chair of the MIT faculty from 2007 to 2009, and as vice president of the American Political Science Association.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND MUSICIANS
Acknowledgments and the full list of musicians are available on the acknowledgments page.

DIGITAL DIPLOMAS
All graduating students are eligible to receive a digital diploma at no cost. To get started, visit the Registrar's site, download the Blockcerts Wallet app, and add MIT as an issuer to ensure you'll receive your digital diploma as soon as it's available.

HISTORY AND SYMBOLISM
Learn about the history and symbolism behind MIT ceremonies—including academic regalia, the ceremonial mace, the shepherd's staff, and the MIT seal—on the History and Symbolism page.

LOST AND FOUND
Any valuable items found at ceremonies (e.g., phones, laptops) will be held by the MIT Police. All other found items will be available in 7-121.

PHOTOGRAPHS
GradImages photographed graduates as they crossed the stage and as they returned to their seats. You can visit their website to view and purchase prints, plaques, specialty gifts, and more.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Use #MIT2026 in your social media posts and tag us!

Instagram: @mit, @mitalumni, @mitcommencement
Facebook: MIT News, MIT Alumni Association
X: @MIT, @MITStudents, @MIT_alumni

Visit MIT’s social media hub for additional MIT social media accounts.

The 2026 Academic Procession at the Undergraduate Degree Ceremony was led by the Associate Chair of the Faculty. The stage assembly—comprising MIT senior leaders, members of the MIT Faculty, the class marshals, and senior class soloists—follows. The guests of honor—the graduating seniors—then marched into Killian Court. Following the ceremony, the stage assembly recessed, while the graduates and guests adjourned.

Undergraduate Degree Ceremony Program (PDF)

Class of 2026 name book