UIC celebrates 2026 spring commencement May 6-9

Approximately 6,600 degrees will be awarded to undergraduate, graduate and professional students during University of Illinois Chicago commencement ceremonies May 6-9.

Chicago's largest public university will welcome families and friends of graduates for the ceremonies at UIC's Credit Union 1 Arena, 525 S. Racine Ave., and Isadore and Sadie Dorin Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Road.

This year's degree recipients include:

• A first-generation college graduate and military veteran who balanced advanced study with revitalizing student organizations;
• A community college transfer student committed to educational equity who plans to continue her studies at UIC;
• A public policy graduate and student leader who will return to ;campus for graduate school.

Learn more about their UIC experience, reflecting leadership, service and determination.

Also crossing various UIC commencement stages this spring are 39 scholars supported by Hope Chicago, the two-generation economic mobility initiative that supports debt-free postsecondary pathways for South and West Side families. The group is part of the first wave of debt-free completions by Hope Scholars across Illinois, and it represents the most from any four-year institution. With approximately 250 Hope Scholars across four cohorts currently enrolled at UIC, the university is home to the largest number of Hope Scholars pursuing four-year degrees among the organization's network of partner institutions.

Commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients are listed below for colleges with scheduled speeches and honorary-degree presentations.

Wednesday, May 6
Honors College convocation, 7 p.m., Dorin Forum. Speaker: Dr. Evelyn Figueroa, professor of family and community medicine at UIC

Thursday, May 7
Education, 9 a.m., Credit Union 1 Arena. Speaker: UIC alum Shaka Rawls, president and principal of Leo High School

Dentistry, 10 a.m., Dorin Forum. Speaker: UIC alum Dr. Susan Rowan, dean of the UIC College of Dentistry

Nursing, 2 p.m., Credit Union 1 Arena. Speaker: UIC alum Alison Hernandez, senior policy advisor for the American Nurses Association

Pharmacy, 3 p.m., Dorin Forum. Speaker: Stephanie Crawford, professor emerita of pharmacy systems, outcomes and policy and former executive associate dean for faculty affairs and strategic initiatives at the UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy; and former associate director and co-founder of the UIC Institute for Health Data Science Research

Applied Health Sciences, 6:30 p.m., Credit Union 1 Arena. Honorary Degree - Doctor of Humane Letters: Deb Hamilton, project director at Illinois Waits

Public Health, 7:30 p.m., Dorin Forum. Speaker: UIC alum Ayesha Jaco, executive director of West Side United

Friday, May 8
Social Work, 10 a.m., Credit Union 1 Arena. Speaker: UIC alum Marvin Lindsey, adjunct lecturer in social work and liaison for the We Are Men program at UIC; and consultant with the Illinois Behavioral Health Workforce Center

Urban Planning and Public Affairs, 1 p.m., Dorin Forum. Speaker: UIC alum Alma E. Anaya, Cook County Commissioner, 7th District

Medicine, 2 p.m., Credit Union 1 Arena. Speaker: Dr. Harold Varmus, Nobel Prize-winning cancer researcher and scientist and former director of the National Institutes of Health. Honorary Degree - Doctor of Humane Letters: Bruno A. Pasquinelli, president and co-founder of Pasquinelli Construction Co.

Business Administration, 7 p.m., Credit Union 1 Arena. Speaker: Stuart Handler, founder and CEO of TLC Management Co. and benefactor for the Stuart Handler Department of Real Estate at UIC

Saturday, May 9
Liberal Arts and Sciences, 10 a.m., Credit Union 1 Arena. Speaker: UIC alum Nnedi Okorafor, New York Times bestselling science fiction and fantasy author and a global leader of Africanfuturism

Engineering, 3 p.m., Credit Union 1 Arena. Speaker: UIC alum Mark Yahiro, vice president of RealSense Inc.

Law, 4 p.m., Dorin Forum. Speaker: UIC alum Hon. Nichole Patton, Circuit Court judge of Cook County and president of the Chicago Bar Association

Architecture, Design, and the Arts, 7:30 p.m., Credit Union 1 Arena. Speaker: Ashleigh Axios, founder and CEO of Public Servants

Contact

Brian Flood
312-835-5432
[email protected]
twitter.com/bflooduic