The University of Arizona will bring Eric Schmidt to the stage for its Commencement ceremony on Friday, May 15, at 7:30 p.m. in Casino Del Sol Stadium. The former Google chief and Schmidt Sciences co-founder will address the Class of 2026.
University President Suresh Garimella said Schmidt helped define the architecture of the internet and, under his leadership, guided Google into one of the world's most influential technology companies. He said Schmidt's career shows what can happen when innovation is paired with purpose, and called him a fitting speaker for graduates preparing to lead and create opportunity in a fast-changing world.
The choice also ties the ceremony to work already underway at the university. Schmidt Sciences is partnering with the University of Arizona as a key collaborator on Lazuli, described as the world's first fully privately funded space telescope. The university will develop instruments for the 3-meter space telescope, and Schmidt Sciences earlier this year announced the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System, which includes one space and three ground-based observatories.
Schmidt's remarks are likely to land with added weight because of the scale of his career and the timing of the event. He scaled Google globally with Sergey Brin and Larry Page, served as chairman from 2011 to 2015 and later as executive chairman of Alphabet from 2015 to 2018. In 2021, he launched and now chairs the Special Competitive Studies Project, regularly testifies before Congress on technology, energy and national security, and in 2024 received an honorary KBE from King Charles III for services to philanthropy.
He is also chair and CEO of Relativity Space, the author of four New York Times best-selling books, and with his wife Wendy a founder of Schmidt Sciences and several other philanthropic organizations. In a statement, Schmidt said the University of Arizona embodies the curiosity, rigor and bold imagination that will shape the next era of discovery, and added that the work being done there today will define what's possible tomorrow. For graduates heading into a turbulent moment, the message is direct: the speaker is not just a technology veteran, but a figure whose own research and philanthropy are already linked to the university's future.
Schmidt said he was honored to address the Class of 2026 as they step into a pivotal moment in history, full of extraordinary opportunity and responsibility. On Friday night, the connection between the degree on stage and the research in motion will be hard to miss.
