Sundar Pichai will be Stanford's 2026 Commencement speaker

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April 2nd, 2026\| 3 min read [Events](https://news.stanford.edu/on-campus/topic/events)

# Sundar Pichai will be Stanford’s 2026 Commencement speaker

The CEO of Google and Alphabet will be the keynote speaker for Commencement 2026. Pichai holds a master’s in materials science and engineering from the university.

![Sundar Pichai smiling in front of a brightly colored background](https://news.stanford.edu/__data/assets/image/0029/185375/creators_JA1_0324.JPG)

Sundar Pichai \| Google

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, MS ’95, a forward-thinking leader in tackling challenges and empowering people to realize their potential, will deliver Stanford’s Commencement address in June.

Pichai, who holds a master’s from Stanford, will address graduates during the university’s 135th Commencement ceremony on Sunday, June 14, in Stanford Stadium.

“Sundar is a deeply thoughtful leader who has a vivid sense for how technology can improve society and transform individual lives. He epitomizes what it means for a Stanford graduate to have a broad impact,” said Stanford President Jonathan Levin. “I’m excited to hear his reflections and advice to our graduates as they take the next step into their own futures.”

Stanford’s senior class presidents, who worked with the Office of the President on the selection process, recently met on campus with Pichai to discuss his and their graduating class’ experiences at Stanford.

“Building a meaningful life, similar to building a world-class company, requires the mindset of running a marathon, not a sprint,” said Rishi Jain, on behalf of the six class presidents. “We can think of no better embodiment of that philosophy than our 2026 Commencement speaker and Google and Alphabet CEO, Sundar Pichai."

The Stanford ceremony will be Pichai’s first in-person commencement speech. His only other graduation remarks came during “Dear Class of 2020,” a virtual commencement on YouTube that featured speeches and performances celebrating graduates, their families, and communities during the pandemic.

Pichai, who grew up in Chennai, India, holds a master’s in materials science and engineering from Stanford. He also studied engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, where he received an Institute Silver Medal, and holds an MBA from the Wharton School, where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar.

![Sundar Pichai in a Stanford sweatshirt while a student](https://news.stanford.edu/__data/assets/image/0030/185376

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