Accomplished leaders will join in celebrating the achievements of more than 4,000 Spartan graduates during Michigan State University’s fall semester commencement ceremonies Dec. 13 and 14. This year’s undergraduate fall class is composed of students from more than 66 countries, all 50 U.S. states and 73 of Michigan’s 83 counties.
"It’s a pleasure to recognize our graduates for their accomplishments at Michigan State as they prepare for the next chapter in their lives,” said MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D. “They go forth well prepared for the careers in front of them and for lives of engagement and purpose, while carrying fond lifelong memories of their Spartan student experience.”
Teresa Sullivan, president emerita and university professor emerita, University of Virginia, and former MSU interim provost, will kick off the graduation season at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 13. Sullivan will address doctoral, master’s and educational specialist degree recipients and will receive an honorary degree of humanities.
Two separate ceremonies will take place on Dec. 14 to honor baccalaureate degree recipients. At 10 a.m., MSU alum Jillian Lorenz, co-founder of The Barre Code, will address graduating students from the colleges of Arts and Letters, Business, Education, Music, Social Science, as well as James Madison College and the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities. She will receive an honorary doctor of business.
At 2 p.m., Darius Adamczyk, chairman of Goldman Sachs Private Asset Investments and Operations, will conclude university commencement ceremonies. Adamczyk will address graduating students from the colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Communication Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Natural Science and Nursing, as well as Lyman Briggs College. He will receive an honorary doctor of engineering.
All ceremonies will be held at the Breslin Student Events Center at 534 Birch Road on the East Lansing campus. The events will be livestreamed and available to view via MSU’s commencement ceremonies web page. Social media users can follow the ceremonies on social media platforms using #SpartanGrad24.
Family, friends and fellow alums will be able to honor graduating students by submitting personalized messages and photos to be displayed on stage prior to the ceremonies. Supporters can submit their well wishes online starting today through graduation day. Each ceremony below has its own unique link for message submissions.
- Doctoral, master’s and educational specialist degrees
- Baccalaureate ceremony – 10 a.m.
- Baccalaureate ceremony – 2 p.m.
For the safety of attendees, only small transparent bags are allowed. Cameras, camcorders and certain carrying cases also are permitted. More information about the bag policy is available on the Breslin Center’s website. No food or beverages — including bottled water — will be allowed, and this applies to graduates, guests and faculty. The Breslin Center will offer a limited concessions menu during the ceremonies. Additional prohibited items include noisemakers, selfie sticks, pets, signs and weapons of any form. Breslin Center is a smoke-free facility. Metal detectors will screen all attendees, so please plan accordingly.
Media interested in attending commencement must RSVP to Megan Winans at winansme@msu.edu by Wednesday, Dec. 11.
Speaker biographies
Teresa A. Sullivan
MSU alum Teresa A. Sullivan is a highly accomplished leader in higher education, who served as interim provost at Michigan State from 2019 to 2020. She also served as vice president and graduate dean of the University of Texas, provost at the University of Michigan, and the president of the University of Virginia for eight years.
In recognition of her extensive contributions to the field of sociology, Sullivan has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Professional Achievement Award from the University of Chicago Alumni Board, an elected fellowship in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the MLK Community Service Award, and the Frank N. Cowan Silver Hope Award, among many others.
Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree with high honors from James Madison College and the Honors College at Michigan State University and a doctorate from the University of Chicago specializing in demography and sociology of education.
Jillian Lorenz
Jillian Lorenz is an MSU alum and an accomplished entrepreneur. After graduating from MSU in 2000 with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering, she built a career in business consulting before co-founding The Barre Code in 2010, a barre fitness company that quickly exploded to national recognition and success with its powerfully positive message of self-acceptance and personal growth. The Barre Code has been featured in publications such as Forbes, Inc., WSJ, Vogue, Self and ranked in the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 for four consecutive years.
After the successful sale of The Barre Code in 2023, Lorenz now shares her expertise as an executive coach at SoulYou Coaching, and venture partner at Exit Quotient Ventures, where she invests in the next generation of business founders and helps them reach their full potential.
Lorenz has been a valuable part of the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at MSU where she now serves as a member of the External Resource Council. She was also voted the Spartan Innovator of the Year in 2018 by MSU alumni.
Darius Adamczyk
Darius Adamczyk, a highly accomplished and inspiring business professional, serves as the chairman of Goldman Sachs Private Asset Investments and Operations. In this role, he works closely with the investing leadership teams, focusing on conducting diligence for potential new investments, advising the leadership of portfolio companies and helping to deliver operational excellence to accelerate growth.
Adamczyk was executive chairman of Honeywell from June 2023 through June 2024. In that role, he focused on supporting customer relationships, business development, enterprise strategic planning, portfolio shaping and global government relations. He was first elected Honeywell chairman in April 2018. Adamczyk also served as chief executive officer from March 2017 to June 2023. Under his leadership, the company streamlined its portfolio and end markets, simplified and digitized functional operations, and outperformed the market and company’s peer group.
Over his seven years at Honeywell, Adamczyk created triple-digit shareholder returns and $50 billion in market value. Among his other accomplishments, Adamczyk launched a software platform, Honeywell Connected Enterprise, and created the world’s largest quantum computing hardware and software company.
Adamczyk has received a multitude of awards and accolades, such as the 2019 Great Immigrant Award by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, in recognition of his sustained excellence and perseverance. He also was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2022 and received the Legend of Leadership Award from Yale School of Management that same year.
His educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Michigan State University, a master’s degree in computer engineering from Syracuse University and a master of business administration from Harvard University.
