The nationally recognized scholar and Northeastern alumna will address the Class of 2026 on May 15.

CHICAGO, May 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Northeastern Illinois University will welcome alumna Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Ph.D. (B.A. ’07, Board of Governors, now Interdisciplinary Studies), as the speaker for its May 2026 Commencement ceremony.

The ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 15, at Credit Union 1 Arena, 525 S. Racine Ave., in Chicago. Tickets are required and made available only to graduates and their guests. The event will also be livestreamed at neiu.edu/commencement.

“Dr. Taylor’s accomplishments reflect the transformative power of a Northeastern education,” said Northeastern Illinois University President Katrina E. Bell-Jordan, Ph.D. “We are proud to welcome her to inspire our graduates as they prepare for the next chapter in their personal and professional journeys.”

After earning her bachelor’s degree from Northeastern, Dr. Taylor went on to receive her master’s and doctoral degrees from Northwestern University. She is now the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and a nationally recognized scholar and author.

Dr. Taylor is the recipient of numerous honors, such as a MacArthur Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her scholarship and public engagement have earned widespread recognition, national literary awards, and distinctions. She is the author of several acclaimed books — including “Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership” (University of North Carolina Press, 2019), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History — as well as other widely cited works exploring economic and social issues.

Dr. Taylor is a Distinguished Lecturer with the Organization of American Historians, a member of the inaugural Freedom Scholars cohort, and a contributing writer for The New Yorker.

EVENT DETAILS

WHEN: Friday, May 15, 2026
Commencement begins at 2:00 p.m.
Tickets are required.
Livestream: neiu.edu/commencement
WHERE: Credit Union 1 Arena, 525 S. Racine Ave. in Chicago
RSVP: Media are asked to RSVP by emailing Chris Childers at C-childers@neiu.edu.

ABOUT NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY

Northeastern Illinois University offers more than 40 undergraduate degree and certificate programs and more than 50 graduate degree, certificate, licensure and endorsement programs. The Main Campus is located on 67 acres in an attractive residential area on the Northwest Side of Chicago. Founded in 1867, Northeastern is a Minority-Serving Institution and the longest-standing four-year public Hispanic-Serving Institution in the Midwest. The University has additional Chicagoland locations, including the Jacob H. Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies, El Centro and the University Center of Lake County.

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SOURCE Northeastern Illinois University