The Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Viterbi School of Engineering and its School of Advanced Computing, Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, and Gould School of Law recently announced their respective speakers for the 2026 USC Commencement ceremonies.  

Dexter Holland to deliver Dornsife Commencement address

Dexter Holland, frontman of rock band The Offspring, will be the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences’ speaker for both of Dornsife’s ceremonies. Holland earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences in 1988 before later earning a master’s degree and a doctorate in molecular biology, all from Dornsife. 

Holland and his friends formed the band that would become The Offspring during his freshman year and released their breakthrough album “Smash” while Holland was working on his doctorate. In a press release, Dean James Bullock said that the combination of being the frontman of a defining rock band and also earning a doctorate in molecular biology is not a “contradiction.”

“It exemplifies how the liberal arts develop the intellectual range to go deep in a field as well as the confidence to build something entirely your own outside of it,” Bullock said. “I’m thrilled [Holland is] returning to make that case in person.”

Dornsife will host its Academic School Ceremonies on May 15 at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at Alumni Park. 

Former Aerospace CEO, among others, to be Viterbi Commencement speaker

William Ballhaus Jr., retired president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation, and Karen Dahut, CEO of Google Public Sector, will be the commencement speakers for Viterbi’s undergraduate ceremony. 

Ballhaus’ career spanned both research and corporate sectors of the aerospace industry. He held positions at The Aerospace Corporation, NASA, Martin Marietta and Lockheed Martin. He was also the president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Dahut’s work at Google Public Sector includes using Google Cloud’s capabilities to help companies digitize their workflows. She received a master’s degree in systems management from Viterbi in 1988. 

At Viterbi’s graduate commencement ceremony, Asghar Mostafa, who is the president, CEO and chairman of Rubriq Corporation, will be the commencement speaker. Mostafa founded several technology companies over the past 30 years. His latest entrepreneurial endeavor is Rubriq Corporation, a corporation founded to assist other entrepreneurs in building their technology companies.

Both ceremonies will take place at Galen Center on May 15, with the undergraduate ceremony at 9 a.m. and the two graduate ceremonies at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Award-winning choreographer to be Kaufman Commencement speaker

Kaufman’s Commencement speaker will be two-time Bessie Award winner and choreographer Hope Boykin.  She performed for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for two decades and choreographed for major dance companies. She is also the founding director of the Kennedy Center Dance Lab, a two-week summer program for pre-professional high school dancers.

Boykin has been an artist-in-residence at USC since 2019. As a Kaufman graduate, Boykin said in a press release that it is a “tremendous honor” to celebrate the class of 2026. 

“These dancers and art-makers, whom I have watched and admired for so very long, and with whom I have had the great pleasure of working, are the hope we all need in our world today,” Boykin said.

The Kaufman commencement ceremony will take place at Bovard Auditorium on May 15 at 9 a.m. 

Death penalty abolitionist, religious sister to deliver Gould Commencement address

Religious sister Helen Prejean will be Gould’s undergraduate and Juris Doctor Commencement speaker. Prejean’s work focuses on advancing efforts against the death penalty and working with the family members of victims. 

For Gould’s graduate and international programs ceremony, Nicolai Schwarz-Gondek will deliver the commencement address. Schwarz-Gondek, partner at the global law firm Sidley Austin and a USC Gould alum, specializes in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and corporate transactions.

The ceremonies will take place at USC Village Great Lawn on May 15, with the undergraduate and JD ceremony from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and the graduate and international programs ceremony taking place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.