Tufts’ commencement speaker for the Class of 2026 will be Ken Frazier, chair of health initiatives at General Catalyst, a $32 billion venture capital firm, and the former head of the pharmaceuticals company Merck, the school said Thursday.
Commencement at Tufts University is 9 a.m. May 17 on the academic quad of Tufts’ Medford-Somerville campus.
Under Frazier’s leadership, Merck delivered innovative lifesaving medicines and vaccines by substantially increased Merck’s investment in research, the school said. Also highlighted was his work at OneTen, a coalition that encourages business advancement for people without four-year degrees. “He is an exceptionally accomplished executive, attorney and trailblazer who leads with moral clarity and vision,” said Sunil Kumar, Tufts’ president.
Frazier will get an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree.
Also getting honorary degrees:
Terri Lyne Carrington, a Medford-born musician, producer and Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice educator who has four drumming Grammys. At 10, she became the youngest person to get a union card in Boston; she has since performed on more than 100 recordings and toured with musicians such as Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding.
David Walt, a scientist, educator and entrepreneur who taught at Tufts for 35 years before going to the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Walt got the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from president Joe Biden in 2025.
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