Trinity College has announced that multi-time tech CEO and entrepreneur N. Louis “Lou” Shipley will be the speaker at the College’s 200th Commencement on Sunday, May 17. Shipley—a Trinity trustee and member of the Class of 1985—will address graduates in the Class of 2026 during the ceremony, which begins at 11:00 a.m. on the Main Quad.
Honorary degrees will be awarded to Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Trinity College president, emerita, and Carolyn “Carrie” Pelzel ’74. This is the first Commencement at Trinity for President Daniel G. Lugo, who succeeded Berger-Sweeney upon her retirement in 2025.
This year’s Baccalaureate speakers will be Ibrahim Shikaki, associate professor of economics, and Alexander Nadelberg ’26. The Baccalaureate ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 16, at 4:00 p.m. in the Trinity College Chapel.
Shipley is a senior lecturer in entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School and former lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. His academic focus and expertise stems from his wide-ranging and hands-on experience in entrepreneurship, having worked with six different start-up companies, the last three as CEO.
He is a dedicated alumnus who has served the College in numerous roles, including as a trustee since 2018, a founding supporter of the Elting Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a campaign committee leader for the Campaign for Trinity’s Future, a chair of the Trinity College Fund Committee, and an adviser for the Career and Life Design Center. Shipley also recently co-authored Unlikely Entrepreneurs: Wins, Losses, and Crucial Advice in Building Great Companies, which is an Amazon No. 1 Best Seller.
Berger-Sweeney is an accomplished neuroscientist and experienced leader in higher education who served from 2014–25 as Trinity’s 22nd president. The first African American and first woman to serve as president of the College, she led transformational changes in curriculum, enrollment, financial aid, student retention and outcomes, operational excellence, and fundraising, including seeing through to completion the historic All In campaign. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award and the Society for Neuroscience Lifetime Mentoring Award, and has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society. She is the author of more than 60 scientific publications and has held grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and numerous private foundations, in addition to holding two drug patents.
Pelzel is a deeply dedicated and involved alumna, who, in the more than 50 years since her own Commencement, has generously contributed her time and talent to the College, for which she has been recognized with the 175th Anniversary Award and the Alumni Medal for Excellence. In 2023, she answered the call to return to Trinity to shepherd the All In campaign after then-Vice President for Advancement Michael Casey tragically passed away. Her extensive professional experience includes serving as senior vice president for advancement at Dartmouth College, where she led the $1.3 billion Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience; spending more than a decade at Harvard University, where she helped plan the launch of Harvard’s $2.3 billion campaign; and serving in leadership roles at the National Association of Independent Schools and at her high school alma mater, Northfield Mount Hermon.
Commencement is the central and most important event of the Trinity academic year. Members of the faculty and staff gather together with the families and friends of the graduates to celebrate their achievements in a ceremony that has endured for 200 years.
During the procession before the ceremony, the tradition of graduates stepping on The Luther-Roosevelt Long Walk Inscription in front of the Fuller Arch at Northam Towers for the first time on Commencement day continues. The inscription commemorates the visit in June 1918 of former President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt, who delivered an address the day before Commencement and received an honorary degree at the ceremony.
The ceremony is followed by a post-Commencement celebration, to which the entire Trinity community is invited.
Learn more about Commencement Weekend, including the full schedule of events, here.
Majerus comes to the College from the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), where he serves as vice president of expeditions. He previously held leadership roles at Queens University of Charlotte and Colby College. Majerus will join the Trinity community on April 27, 2026.
The American Academy of Arts and Letters has recognized Associate Professor of English Ethan Rutherford with the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for Literature for his debut novel, North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther.
The Elizabeth Elting Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will be built on Vernon Street. Construction is scheduled to begin in late spring 2026, with an anticipated opening in fall 2027.
The HartBeat Ensemble residency at Trinity’s Austin Arts Center will launch with ‘Citizen James, or The Young Man Without a Country,’ February 12-21.
