Caltech Celebrates Graduates at 132nd Commencement
On Friday, June 12th, Caltech celebrated its 132nd Commencement, awarding 235 bachelor's degrees, 1 engineer's degree, 126 master's degrees, and 255 doctoral degrees.
It was a warm and bright morning on Beckman Mall, where the 2026 graduates gathered, dressed in caps and gowns, and in the company of their proud families and friends.
At the ceremony, remarks from Board of Trustees Vice Chair Barbara Barrett; from President Thomas F. Rosenbaum, who was himself celebrating his final Commencement as the Institute's leader; and from the 2026 Commencement speaker, Kip Thorne (BS '62), celebrated the graduates' achievements and called on them to carry their technical skills, experiences, and sense of purpose into whatever comes next.
Thorne—Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus; Caltech Distinguished Alumnus; and Nobel laureate—delivered a Commencement address that aimed to equip the graduates with the two specific tools he believes will serve them well in their future endeavors: the first was peripheral vision for unexpected opportunities.
"While you focus on your current career path, whatever that may be, I urge you to set aside 10 to 15 percent of your time to create and maintain a wide peripheral vision—a vision that reaches into adjacent fields of endeavor and beyond," Thorne said. "From time to time in that periphery, you will discover unexpected opportunities...that might boost you onto a new career path, a joyous one that you had not dreamed of."
As an example, Thorne pointed to the journey of France Córdova (PhD '79), whose career has been a series of career transitions triggered by peripheral vision. It has taken her from undergraduate English major at Stanford to Caltech physics PhD to, among others, director of the National Science Foundation and member of the Caltech Board of Trustees.
Thorne's recommended second tool is cautious optimism. When facing a very difficult challenge, he said, be optimistic about success, but be very proactive in identifying and dealing with possible "show stoppers" before they slow your progress. This was crucial, he explained, to the success of the quest to discover gravitational waves via the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) Project. LIGO's success won Thorne and Barry Barish a share of the 2017 physics Nobel Prize.
Thorne explained that cautious optimism can serve as a vital tool for tackling some of the pressing challenges the graduating class will inherit—including the "accelerating evolution" of artificial intelligence.
"Assume optimistically that AI will not drive us humans apart from each other like many fear it will," Thorne said. "Assume that we will emerge from the coming epoch as a thriving, strong, and ethical human society—one in which each human being values and respects all other human beings, regardless of our disagreements, and in which human-to-human interactions are central to our well-being." Then watch vigilantly for threats to this optimistic goal, and proactively deal with them.
This proactive caution may entail, for example, Thorne said, "demands that AI be ethical…that the AI industry deeply embed respectful human ethics into its AI products and services."
Barrett, who officiated the Commencement ceremony, began by congratulating the 2026 graduates for all they accomplished.
"To be admitted here, students must demonstrate the highest standards of academic excellence," Barrett said. "Walking across the stage today proves that you have surpassed Caltech's demanding standards."
In her remarks, Barrett recognized the many ways the Institute has impacted the world in the past academic year, including the development of sustainable approaches for making plastic using only carbon dioxide, water, and electricity; the exploration of how emotions such as guilt and disappointment can influence decision-making among buyers and sellers; and the discovery of a connection between drought and the rise of antibiotic-resistance in microorganisms.
Barrett also highlighted this year's 90th anniversary of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which Caltech founded and continues to manage for NASA, noting the active roles that students and graduates from campus play across its missions.
Later in the ceremony, Barrett announced the establishment of the Thomas F. Rosenbaum and Katherine T. Faber Endowed Early Career Professorship in recognition of Rosenbaum and Faber's dedicated years of service to the Institute.
Rosenbaum conferred degrees on the graduates and called on deans and division chairs to bring the graduates up one by one. After Rosenbaum conferred degrees on the graduates, and their deans and division chairs called their individual names, Rosenbaum presented four special prizes to members of the graduating class.
In his final address to the graduates, Rosenbaum reflected on his choice of Thorne as the Commencement speaker for his final year as Institute president.
"This commencement ceremony is another mentoring moment, where we all can aspire to internalize the values emphasized by Kip: intellectual fearlessness coupled with humility, the commitment to scientific integrity, the fortitude to swim against the stream of conventional wisdom, and the responsibility to use our skills to give back to society," Rosenbaum said.
Rosenbaum also listed the ways in which Caltech's graduates are prepared to face the many opportunities ahead: by valuing evidence-based research, believing in the interchange of ideas from every background and perspective, and being fearless and ambitious.
Rosenbaum concluded: "You will carve out your personal pathways shaped by your time at Caltech, paving new roads for individual fulfillment and for bettering the lives of others. I wish you wholeness and magic on your journey forward."
