More than 4,500 degree candidates are expected for Miami University’s 187th Spring Commencement on May 16 at Yager Stadium.

The ceremony celebrating the Class of 2026 begins at 10:30 a.m., rain or shine, and will be livestreamed on YouTube for those unable to attend. Tickets are not required for the ceremony, which is expected to last approximately 90 minutes. Divisional recognition ceremonies will be held May 16 and May 17.

John Harbaugh, 1984 Miami graduate and head coach of the New York Giants, will deliver the keynote address. Harbaugh played defensive back for Miami’s football team and earned a degree in Political Science.

In 2013, Harbaugh led the Baltimore Ravens to victory in Super Bowl XLVII. A year later, he was inducted into Miami’s Cradle of Coaches Association.

“It’s a great honor to be Miami’s commencement speaker,” Harbaugh said in March. “I just have so much respect for Miami, for the administration, for the university, for everything it stands for, for everything it did for me.”

A total of 4,519 degrees are expected to be conferred during the ceremony. That includes 3,718 bachelor’s degrees; 493 master’s degrees; 217 certificates; 59 associate degrees; and 32 doctorates.

The top 10 undergraduate degrees expected to be conferred this year are: Finance (341), Marketing (289), Psychology (213), Biology (200), Kinesiology (156), Nursing (144), Accountancy (115), Computer Science (115), Strategic Communications (95), and Emerging Technology in Business and Design and Primary Education PK-5 (both 94).

A total of 14.3% of students earning a bachelor’s degree will graduate with cum laude honors, 9.4% magna cum laude, and 7.4% summa cum laude. For associate degree candidates, 1.7% will earn cum laude honors, 1.7% magna cum laude, and 5.1% summa cum laude.

Degree candidates represent 43 states, plus Washington, D.C., with the largest percentage coming from Ohio (65%), followed by Illinois (8.5%).

Additionally, three honorary degrees will be awarded. The recipients of Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters are:

• John Harbaugh ’84, head coach of the New York Giants of the NFL;
• Sue Henry ’73, who practiced labor and employment law for 25 years in Chicago and Washington, D.C., and who helped launch Miami’s Pre-Law Education program in 2007; and
• Dwight Merriman ’90, an internet entrepreneur who co-founded internet advertising company DoubleClick; Panther Express, a New York-based software services provider; and MongoDB, an open-source document database.