As the calendar turns to May, college campuses begin to buzz with graduation excitement for students, faculty, and families coming into town to celebrate their loved ones’ commencement ceremonies.
Baltimore City and the surrounding counties are fortunate to have historic and iconic academic institutions, large and small, spanning all fields of study and methods of learning.
Here is a roundup of esteemed speakers coming to impart their wit, wisdom, and experiences.
Bowie State University
Friday, May 22, 2026
One of the nation’s most influential voices on culture, race, religion and politics, Dyson serves as a distinguished university professor of African American and diaspora studies in the College of Arts & Science at Vanderbilt University, where he is also a distinguished university professor of ethics and society in the Divinity School, and NEH Centennial chair. His work examines the intersections of history, faith, social justice and popular culture. An award-winning author, penning more than 25 books, Dyson has had seven of them reach The New York Times bestseller list. His work has also earned the 2020 Langston Hughes Medal, American Book Award, Southern Book Award and two NAACP Image Awards for nonfiction.
Coppin State University
U.S. SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS (D-Maryland)
Friday, May 22, 2026
A lifelong Marylander elected to the U.S. Senate in 2024, Alsobrooks has spent most of her adult life in public service to help working families and communities stay safe. She has fought for children’s right to pursue their dreams and for their families’ economic pathways to security and wealth. Alsobrooks was the first full-time Assistant State’s Attorney to handle domestic violence cases in Prince George’s County and made history as the youngest and first woman to be elected Prince George’s County State’s Attorney. During her tenure, violent crime fell by 50%. Elected Prince George’s County Executive in 2018, her focus on economic opportunity for constituents made her one of the top job creators in the state of Maryland. She is Maryland’s first African-American woman elected as senator of any U.S. state; the second woman to represent Maryland in the Senate, after Barbara Mikulski; and the fourth African-American woman to serve as U.S. senator in the nation’s history.
Goucher College
U.S. REP. JAMIE RASKIN (Md – 8th District)
Sunday, May 17, 2026
Before Raskin joined Congress, he was a professor of constitutional law and the First Amendment at American University’s Washington College of Law for 25 years. A three-term State Senator in Maryland, he was the Senate Majority Whip leading the fight to pass marriage equality, abolish the death penalty, restore voting rights to former prisoners and pass the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Elected to Congress the same time Donald Trump was elected president, Raskin had an immediate foe in the White House and in 2021 was named lead impeachment manager in Trump’s second impeachment trial–this one for inciting violent insurrection against the Constitution. He also served on the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol and delivered the committee’s referral to the Justice Department of the criminal offenses that Trump likely committed. Raskin has authored several books on his family, democracy, and law. His book “We the Students” was banned by the Texas State Board of Education. He has the distinction of being banned for life from Russia by the country’s president, Vladimir Putin.
Johns Hopkins University
Thursday, May 21, 2026
Karikó is a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who pioneered mRNA research that led to life-saving vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the tender age of 13, she traveled alone across Hungary by train and on foot to reach a selective science summer camp. The following year, she traveled to Hungary’s capital, Budapest, for a national biology competition, where she placed third in the country. After earning her Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1982, she and her husband emigrated to the United States with their daughter. Her research at University of Pennsylvania on why the immune system attacks synthetic mRNA suffered many hits, but it was there she and fellow researcher Drew Weissman made a massive breakthrough. Their 2005 discovery became globally relevant in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and became the backbone for the vaccines that saved countless lives. Read more about Karikó in this Baltimore Fishbowl article.
Loyola University Maryland
Saturday, May 17, 2026
Fox is founder and CEO of Mission Partners, a women-owned strategic communications firm that guides high-potential nonprofits, foundations, and socially responsible companies in realizing their greatest social impact. She prioritizes community, social justice, sustainability, children’s health, higher education, and workforce development. She helped develop a nationwide campaign to transform the foster care system for young people aging out of care, helped launch a global competition with a $10 million prize to advance more fuel-efficient vehicles, and created an award-winning podcast featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, MacArthur Fellows, and philanthropic leaders.
McDaniel College
Saturday, May 23, 2026
Pick is executive vice president and chief information officer for Tokio Marine North America, and a member of the McDaniel College Board of Trustees. He worked in major media and telecommunications for 16 years before joining Tokio Marine in 2014, more than a decade of which was spent at publisher Conde Nast, and five years at PricewaterhouseCoopers. At Tokio Marine North America, Pick leads the team providing full-suite digital and technology services. He is the global deputy chief information officer for Tokio Marine Group, a global insurance company with businesses in 57 countries and $50 billion in annual revenue. Pick is an author and speaks at conferences and on podcasts about insurance trends, cybersecurity, and more.
Morgan State University
Saturday, May 16, 2026
Stevenson is a renowned human rights attorney and founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, an organization that is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, challenging poverty and racial injustice, and championing basic human rights for the most vulnerable in American society. He has argued and won landmark cases before the United States Supreme Court, including a 2012 decision that ended mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles and a 2019 ruling banning the execution of people with dementia. Among his many honors are the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant, the American Bar Association Medal, the National Humanities Medal, and international recognition for advancing human rights.
Notre Dame of Maryland University
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Koch is an Emmy Award-winning local news anchor with more than 40 years of service at WJZ CBS News Baltimore, making her the longest-serving anchor in Baltimore. Beginning at the station in 1982 as a lifestyle/entertainment reporter, she soon rose to become weekend anchor, and then main evening anchor. She has reported on historic moments including the Beltway sniper crisis, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the killing of Freddie Gray and the local community’s pain in the aftermath. She serves on the boards of TurnAround, Maryland Committee for the Children, United Way of Central Maryland’s Tocqueville Society, Howard County Arts Council, Success in Style, and Camp Opportunity. Koch has won an Edward R. Murrow Award, the Governor’s Award, the Silver Circle, and many other honors for her esteemed reporting.
Peabody Conservatory
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Machover is faculty director of the MIT Media Lab and considered a “musical visionary.” He was the first director of musical research at Pierre Boulez’s Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics and Music in Paris and is the Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music and Media and director of the Opera of the Future research group at MIT. Machover is also visiting professor of composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has received awards and honors from esteemed musical organizations around the world, like the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Fromm and Koussevitzky foundations, the National Endowment for the Arts, the German Culture Ministry, and more. His groundbreaking operas combine music and AI, inviting collaborations with audiences both live and online. Machover will receive the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music and Dance in America, the highest honor bestowed by the Peabody Institute. Other recipients include legendary artists like Stevie Wonder, Leon Fleisher, Misty Copeland, Leonard Bernstein, Herbie Hancock, and more.
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Erickson School, and School of Social Work
Thursday, May 21, 2026
Heyward is the musical director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, a position he began in 2023, making him the youngest director in BSO history at 31. In October 2025, his contract was extended through the 2030-31 season. A musician in tremendous demand, during this season alone, Heyward will find time to return to the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony and Detroit Symphony Orchestras, and make his debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. His passion extends to opera, and he made his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, debut conducting Hannah Kendall’s “Knife of Down.” He led the world premiere of Giorgio Battistelli’s “Wake” with the Birmingham Opera Company and launched a four-year “Verdi Opera Initiative” with the BSO. Heyward is a passionate advocate for putting instruments into the hands of children, music education, and community outreach.
College of Engineering & Information Technology, College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, and Individualized Study Program
Thursday, May 21, 2026
Thorp is editor-in-chief of the “Science” family of journals, a position he has held since 2019. Before that he was at Washington University, where he served as provost from 2013-2019 and professor from 2013-2023. Currently, he is a professor of chemistry and medicine at George Washington University, on leave to serve as editor-in-chief at “Science.” Thorp holds multiple honorary degrees and cofounded Viamet Pharmaceuticals, which developed VIVJOA (oteseconazole). VIVJOA is now FDA-approved and marketed by Mycovia Pharmaceuticals. Among Thorp’s myriad positions as consultant and advisor to multiple firms, he is on the board of directors of PBS and St. Louis University. In 2026, Thorp was awarded the Live Long and Prosper Tribute Award by the Nimoy-Knight Foundation.
University of Maryland, College Park
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Epps returns to University of Maryland having traveled many more miles than likely every other person attending the ceremony. A NASA astronaut, she spent nearly eight months in orbit in 2024 on the International Space Station (ISS), serving as a flight engineer on research projects and supporting ISS operations and maintenance. Her professional career began at Ford Motor Company as a researcher, where she won two patents for her work in vibration dampening and front collision location detection. Epps then spent seven years in the CIA as a technical intelligence officer, which included a tour in Iraq searching for weapons of mass destruction. In 2009, she earned a spot as one of 14 candidates in the 20th class of NASA astronauts, and embarked upon years of training and hundreds of hours of flight time before being assigned to the Space X Dragon capsule as part of NASA’s Crew-8 mission to the ISS.
