On May 18, 2025, the Brandeis community gathered in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center to celebrate the University’s 74th Graduate Commencement. This ceremony acknowledged the achievements of students from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis International Business School and Rabb School of Continuing Studies and named two honorary degree recipients, Shirley Ann Jackson and Jim Obergefell. 

The ceremony featured two main keynote speeches. As a recipient of the Doctorate of Science, Shirley Ann Jackson delivered the first address, with Giselle Gabriel Heller, MA Sustainable International Development ’25, to follow. Both speakers emphasized themes of community, passion and excellence.

Jackson shared her educational and career journey with the graduates and audience as a way to show how skills from all disciplines can come together to create a better world. She was the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and only the second African American woman in the United States to earn a Ph.D. in physics. She has been a leader in her field of theoretical physics, as well as in higher education, taking her knowledge and applying it to academia, government and industry. Currently, she works at the AT&T Bell Laboratories. 

She has had many leadership roles, including president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for 23 years, co-chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for four years. She also served as a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Additionally, Jackson is a member of the International Security Advisory Board of the U.S. Department of State, the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board and the Defense Science Board in the U.S. Department of Defense. She served on the board of directors for multiple companies including FedEx, International Business Machine and Medtronic. 

In addition to her many leadership positions, Jackson has earned the National Medal of Science, which is an award given by the president of the United States to those who have made significant contributions to the advancement of science and engineering. 

Upon receiving her honorary doctorate degree, she expressed, “I accept this honor with deep gratitude not only as a scientist, policy maker and educator, but as someone who understands what it means to be given a chance and to use that chance in service of something greater.” 

Jackson said that she was guided by the adults in her life to work hard and strive for greatness. She provided an account of her grandfather, a veteran of the Second World War who earned a bronze star. Jackson stated that “his words of advice became a guiding light in my life,” and that he always said to “aim for the stars so you can reach the treetops, and at least you’ll get off the ground.”

Jackson took with her this lesson to aim high as she moved through her life. She explained how she grew up in a world of “great upheaval,” with the Civil Rights Movement, school desegregation and the space race. The 1954 Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, “opened wider the doors of public education to African Americans children like [her],” and the space race resulted in an increased effort to educate students in science and technology. 

After testing into an accelerated math curriculum in seventh grade, Jackson continued to break down barriers. She was one of two African American women in her first-year class at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As Jackson was choosing her major, one professor told her that “colored girls should learn a trade. So, I chose physics as my trade,” she told an applauding audience.

Jackson took her experience, educationally and beyond, to pass on a lesson and words of advice to the graduating class. She explained that as a physicist she was “trained to look for order in chaos. Not to impose it, but to understand the deeper patterns within it. And I have found that this skill applies not only to nutrinoes or charge density waves, but also to institutions, public systems and global crises. But the bigger lesson I learned is that science is never separate from society.”

She explained how she has been “very fortunate to have been able to use my scientific background to contribute in multiple sectors,” but that “today you [the undergraduate class of 2025] are the fortunate ones. Fortunate in having the level of education and expertise you have obtained.”

However, Jackson elaborated that the world the 2025 graduates are entering into is complex, and she cited climate change, artificial intelligence, political tensions, inequality and more as instances of such. She told the audience that to face these challenges requires “not only data, but wisdom. Not only strategy, but empathy. And this is where your Brandeis education matters.”

Jackson took this time to encourage the graduates to consider their role in this complex world and how they will make change now that they have earned their degrees. She said that Brandeis has always considered, “What does it mean to be educated? And what are you responsible for once you are?” 

She then posed this question in a more direct way, asking, “So graduates, with your Brandeis University degrees, I ask you now: what will you do?” Jackson urged the graduating class to consider not only their careers, but also the social good and morality of their next choices. 

Jackson emphasized that education is more than just a job, and that Brandeis has equipped its students with useful life skills. Jackson said, “Brandeis did not just educate you for your next job, but for your full careers — for your lives. How? By helping you to deal with complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty.”

She also made comments regarding Brandeis itself by saying, “This institution … was born out of a commitment to challenge exclusions.” With this legacy, Jackson suggests that it’s important for the graduates to take these principles with them into the world. Jackson put it, “You now are stewards of its mission. You are charged not only with discovery, but with moral clarity.” 

She added, “Making a difference is your right, your opportunity and, I would say, your obligation,” thus encouraging students to utilize their degrees to make a positive impact on the world. 

However, while Jackson outlined the tools given to the graduates, she also acknowledged that creating change is challenging and requires one to step outside their comfort zone. Although this prospect may seem daunting, she urged that it can be done in “ways large and small” and that uncertainty should not be feared. “Some of the most meaningful turns in my life came when I walked off the obvious path,” Jackson advised.

As Jackson finished her speech, she welcomed the graduating class to consider their futures and the change that they can make in their communities. She declared to the graduates, “Go forward and change the world.”

Following Jackson’s address, Giselle Gabriel delivered the student address for this ceremony, emphasizing the lessons of unity and generosity she learned during her time at the University.

“We are not just celebrating the achievements of this extraordinary graduating class, but also paying tribute to 76 years of a remarkable university,” Gabriel shared. She said for over three-quarters of a century, the University has been a “beacon of knowledge” and a “vessel for innovation” of which the graduates are now torchbearers. Gabriel said that, as new alumni, it is now this class’s responsibility to inspire the graduating generations of students to come, and shape the future.

While this responsibility unites the graduates as they leave the University, Gabriel added that it is also the shared graduate school experiences — collective self-doubt and the weight of responsibility — that bind them together. She recalled “[crying] real tears” her first week on campus, and described the imposter syndrome she felt as a result of the influx of reading and associated work. However, speaking to her classmates showed her that these anxieties were mutual — everyone had to push through the same challenges. 

“My friends, we struggled together,” Gabriel addressed her fellow graduates. “But in that struggle, we found resilience.” 

While the graduating class found this strength and resilience among itself, Gabriel also highlighted the contributions of faculty members and alumni, and the mentorship they have provided her. She traced her start at Brandeis to one conversation with a faculty member and credited alumni with funding her degree through a fellowship and giving her not only the opportunity to pursue an education, but a purpose in doing so. 

Gabriel said that her mentors’ faith inspired her to succeed and find future ways to give back, which is another shared experience among students at the University. “That is what Brandeis stands for: a legacy of transformative giving, where generosity fuels excellence, and it enables us to lift each other higher,” she said. She stressed the importance of channeling the resilience and inspiration gained from this educational experience into taking action.

“Let us lead with the same boldness that founded this university,” she urged, specifically mentioning Brandeis’ tradition of fearlessly challenging injustice and uplifting others. “Let us honor the legacy of those who came before us by building a future that is bolder, brighter and more inclusive.” 

Gabriel concluded her remarks by thanking loved ones for their support as well as faculty and mentors for instilling wisdom and passion in their teachings. Lastly, she reminded the graduates that the world needs the resilience and passion learned at the University “now more than ever.”

The president of the University’s Alumni Association, Amy Cohen ’85, then inducted the graduates as new alumni — “part of a global network” that spans over continents and disciplines. Cohen said that this network of “chosen family and professional allies” is a connection that the graduates should nurture.