Yale SOM Celebrates the Class of 2026
Family, friends, and faculty gathered at Evans Hall for a ceremony honoring the Class of 2026, the largest graduating class in the school’s history.
Yale SOM hosted its 49th Commencement on May 18, celebrating the 603 graduating students of the Class of 2026.
Earlier that morning, graduating SOM students joined their peers from across the university in a procession to the historic Old Campus. There, they officially received their degrees from Yale President Maurie D. McInnis.
At Evans Hall, students took their seats in Shen Courtyard, where Dean Kerwin K. Charles delivered opening remarks. Charles acknowledged the friends and family in attendance before addressing the students, who represent the largest class in the school’s history. This year’s graduates span seven degree programs and represent more than 45 countries.
Charles noted that the Class of 2026 is entering the workforce during a period of historic change, including the rapid rise of AI. “You’re launching your professional careers just as the world is being remade,” he said, adding that SOM graduates are well-equipped to steward this shift.
“What truly prepares you for this distinctive moment, this uncertain frontier, is a distinct and impressive set of values you share,” Charles said. “You each aspire not only to do well, but to transform society for the good—to leave the world richer and more efficient, but also more just, more decent, and fundamentally better, than you found it. The world has never had a more pressing need for your thoughtfulness.”
SOM’s graduating class included 332 students in the full-time MBA program, 50 in the Master of Advanced Management (MAM) program, 61 in the MBA for Executives (EMBA) program, 16 in the Master’s Degree in Systemic Risk program, 78 in the Master’s Degree in Global Business and Society (GBS) program, 63 in the Master’s Degree in Asset Management program, and 3 in the Master’s in Technology Management program.
Student government president Ellie Utter ’26, a graduate of the MBA program, and three student speakers shared congratulations and reflections with their classmates.
Utter focused on SOM’s close-knit community. “Building a better future is not something any of us will do alone,” she said. “One of the most important parts of our tool kit is the community here. What I love about this community is how we show up for one another, despite the uncertainty in the world around us.”
Na Young An ’26, graduating from the GBS program, reflected on a quote from the novel The Little Prince: “What is essential is invisible to the eye.” She contrasted quantifiable standards, such as grades and performance reviews, with the “invisible forces” that truly matter: loyalty, integrity, curiosity, and the courage to show up for others. She urged her peers to continue to embody these qualities.
“The world needs more of what no metric can capture and no AI agent can replace,” she said. “People who show up at your darkest times, people who ask the harder questions, people who choose ‘we’ when ‘me’ would be easier. What it needs is more of us.”
Ruben Terrazas ’26, an EMBA graduate, looked back on his cohort’s journey together, noting that SOM “changed how we see ourselves and each other.”
“In our classrooms, we debated capital flows and built models,” he said. “We analyzed healthcare systems, financial assets, and how institutions allocate opportunity. But the most powerful lessons didn’t come from spreadsheets; they came from our stories.”
Megan Duff ’26, also from the MBA program, called SOM a “safe harbor” that brings together people with myriad backgrounds and life experiences.
“I sincerely hope you will try to remember the gifts you have been given by this place,” she told her peers. “If you are lucky enough to be sitting in this audience, you have much for which to be grateful. If you can use a small fraction of what is within you to make life easier for those around you, you will have made this journey worth it.”
As the members of the Class of 2026 crossed the stage to receive their diplomas, each read the name of the next graduate, in an SOM tradition that dates to the school’s first commencement ceremony.
Anita Sharif-Hyder, dean of students, closed the ceremony by reading “For a Leader,” a meditation by the Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue on the meaning of good leadership: “May leadership be, for you, a true adventure of growth.”
