WORCESTER—More than 1,200 Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) students graduated Friday, capping their academic journeys with a message that blended science, style, and imagination—delivered by Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Michelle Gass.
Gass, a 1990 WPI alum, took the stage at the DCU Center in a custom Levi’s graduation cap made entirely of denim. Her on-brand fashion moment—part Beyoncé, part Neil Diamond—set the tone for a speech that urged graduates to combine technical know-how with creativity.
“I’ve realized that to the extent I’ve been successful and able to engineer the kind of life I wanted for myself and my family,” Gass said as part of her address to the university, “it’s largely because I learned how to approach problems and moments intentionally and productively, while keeping real people in mind at all times.”
She also referenced Levi’s imaginative collaboration with Beyoncé—specifically her song Levii’s Jeans—as a nod to the kind of boundary-pushing innovation she encouraged graduates to embrace.
The ceremony marked the 156th undergraduate commencement for WPI, where 1,298 bachelor’s degrees were conferred. A day earlier, during the graduate ceremony, the university awarded 867 master’s degrees and 87 doctoral degrees.
WPI President Grace J. Wang emphasized the role graduates will play in a world facing urgent and complex challenges.
“Outside these walls today is a world that needs you,” Wang said, according to the announcement. “Not just because of what you have learned to do in your chosen field, but because of who you are.”
Student speaker Dhespina Zhidro, a double major in biomedical and mechanical engineering, reminded her classmates that WPI gave them more than a degree—it gave them a way to lead.
“WPI has given us more than an education,” Zhidro said. “It has given us a blueprint for how to live, how to lead, create meaningful change, and leave every place we enter better than we found it.”
The graduate ceremony keynote was delivered by Noubar Afeyan, founder of Flagship Pioneering and co-founder of Moderna. He spoke about the coming age of “polyintelligence”—a merger of human, machine, and natural intelligence—and urged graduates to use tools like artificial intelligence to push discovery forward.
Commencement week also included a commissioning ceremony for 20 ROTC cadets from area schools, who completed both their degrees and military training and will now serve as officers in the U.S. Army and Air Force.
Gass and Afeyan were each awarded honorary degrees, along with key university supporters Mark Fuller and Francesca Maltese.
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