Main Commencement Ceremony
During the weekend, we will honor the hard work and dedication of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree candidates. The ceremony will be held in Gesling Stadium and is open to graduates, families, guests and friends of the CMU community.
- Bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree candidates and their guests are invited to join the main commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 12, for the conferral of all degrees.
- The main ceremony will include remarks from the president, keynote speaker, student speaker and academic deans, in addition to recognition of the honorary degree recipients.
- The ceremony will take place on CMU’s campus and will be approximately 1.5 hours long.
- There is no limit on number of guests who can attend the main commencement ceremony and tickets are not needed.
- Seating is open in the stadium and includes bleachers and seating on the field. Download the seating map to easily find and locate your seating location and other key locations in Gesling Stadium.
- Accessible seating is available on the field (up to four seats per accessible guest). Additional guests may sit in the bleachers. You do not need to contact us to utilize accessible seating.
- The ceremony takes place outdoors in Gesling Stadium rain or shine. The stadium is not covered and there is no shade. Please plan accordingly.
- All guests must be seated by 9:15 a.m. Access to Gesling Stadium will be restricted during procession.
- Ponchos will be distributed, if necessary.
Bachelor's Degree Candidates
Commencement Ceremony
Sunday, May 12
| 8 a.m. | Stadium Opens |
| 9 a.m. | Robing for students and faculty Locations to be announced |
| 9:15 a.m. | Procession of Graduates All guests must be seated by this time |
| 10 a.m. | Ceremony |
| 11:30 a.m. | Ceremony concludes |
2024 Honorary Degree Recipients
An honorary degree is one of the highest distinctions the university bestows upon an individual, and awarding them is a long-standing tradition. Honorary degree recipients are an inspiration to the Carnegie Mellon community. The tradition reinforces the significance of the university in the world and honors those who have made an impact in the arts, business, computer science, engineering, humanities, policy, sciences or social sciences. Each year during commencement weekend, CMU awards honorary degree recipients during the main commencement ceremony in Gesling Stadium.
Charles L. Evans (TPR 1985, 1989)
Former President and CEO, Federal Bank of Chicago
Doctor of Public Service
Renée Elise Goldsberry (CFA 1993)
Tony and Grammy Award winning artist
Doctor of Fine Arts
Reeta Roy
CEO and President, Mastercard Foundation
Doctor of Humane Letters
Keynote Speaker
William D. Strecker (ENG 1966, 1967, 1971)
Retired Executive Vice President and CTO, In-Q-Tel
Doctor of Science and Technology
Nominations and Past Recipients
Visit CMU's honorary degree website for information about the nomination process and a complete listing of past recipients
Student Speaker
Sarah Chen (SCS 2024)
Sarah Chen will graduate in May 2024 with university honors, earning a bachelors of science in computer science and a minor in science, technology, and society. At Carnegie Mellon University, she pursued her passions through the various roles she took on as a leader and scholar. Her research in satellite imagery and machine learning was published to arXiv and ESSOAr, open-access repositories of preprint and postprint papers, and accepted to COSPAR, a Tier 1 space conference, and she served as a teaching assistant for an introductory computer science course.
As president of Delta Gamma, Sarah left a considerable impact on the community and was heavily involved in iconic CMU traditions as a build chair for Booth and a push captain for Buggy. She further explored the larger potential of teamwork in effecting change as president of Global Business Brigades. Sarah led their first trip post-COVID to rural Panama, where CMU students collaborated with local businesses, facilitated financial literacy workshops and provided consulting. After graduation, Sarah will move to New York City and work as a software engineer at Datadog.