Past Department Commencement

The Department Commencement Ceremony was on June 16th, 2024, at 12:30 pm PDT in the Sapp Center Auditorium.

2024 Commencement Speaker:

Todd Martinez, David Mulvane Ehrsam and Edward Curtis Franklin Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Photon Science at SLAC

Todd Martinez is the David Mulvane Ehrsam and Edward Curtis Franklin Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Photon Science at SLAC. A theoretical chemist, Todd Martínez, develops and applies new methods that predict and explain how atoms move in molecules. These methods are used both to design new molecules and to understand the behavior of those that already exist. His research group studies the response of molecules to light (photochemistry) and external force (mechanochemistry).

Current research in the Martínez lab aims to make molecular modeling both predictive and routine. New approaches to interactive molecular simulation are being developed, in which users interact with a virtual-reality-based molecular modeling kit that fully understands quantum mechanics. New techniques to discover heretofore unknown chemical reactions are being developed and tested, exploiting the many efficient methods that the Martínez group has introduced for solving quantum mechanical problems quickly, using a combination of physical/chemical insights and commodity video gaming hardware.

Martínez is a MacArthur Foundation Fellow and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science, and the National Academy of Sciences.

For the list of students who participated in this year's commencement ceremony, kindly see the following announcement.

To see past commencement ceremonies, visit our YouTube channel.

For more information about the University-wide commencement ceremony, please visit the university commencement site

The Department Commencement Ceremony took place on June 18th, 2023, 12:30 pm PDT in the Sapp Center Auditorium.

2023 Commencement Speaker:

Carolyn Bertozzi, Baker Family Director of Stanford ChEM-H, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences and Professor, by courtesy, of Chemical and Systems Biology and of Radiology

Carolyn Bertozzi is the Baker Family Director of Sarafan ChEM-H and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Humanities and Sciences in the Department of Chemistry at Stanford University. She is also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her research focuses on profiling changes in cell surface glycosylation associated with cancer, inflammation and infection, and exploiting this information for development of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, most recently in the area of immuno-oncology. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Most recently she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Wolf Prize in Chemistry, Dr H.P. Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Welch Prize in Chemistry. She also was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the Chemistry for the Future Solvay Prize, among many others.

To see past commencement ceremonies, visit our YouTube channel.

For more information about the University-wide commencement ceremony, please visit the university commencement site