NVIDIA Founder, CEO Jensen Huang to Carnegie Mellon University Graduates: ‘Shape What Comes Next’ – News
In his address, Huang encouraged graduates to stay dedicated to their pursuits with unwavering determination.
“Carnegie Mellon has a motto I love: My heart is in the work. So, put your heart in the work. Build something worthy of your education, your potential, and the people who believed in you long before the world did,” he said. “We have the opportunity to close the technology divide — and bring the power of computing and intelligence to billions of people for the very first time. To reindustrialize America and restore our capacity to build. And to help create a future more abundant, more capable, and more hopeful than the world you inherited.”
Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian(opens in new window) introduced Huang, praising him for continuing to advance a vision of technology as a powerful tool for amplifying what people can create, discover and achieve.
“His influence extends far beyond the technology sector, with tools and platforms that are empowering researchers, practitioners, students, creators and entrepreneurs around the globe to tackle increasingly complex challenges and unlock new possibilities,” Jahanian said.
Inspired by the late Carnegie Mellon professor and Nobel laureate Herb Simon, Jahanian urged graduates to be actors, not spectators, and to shape the future through lifelong learning, open dialogue and faith in humanity.
He went on to offer a parting charge before congratulating members of the Class of 2026 on their accomplishments.
Farnam Jahanian
“When the landscape shifts beneath you, make the world your classroom; your canvas; your laboratory; and your stage,” Jahanian said. “Consider all the people who have contributed to your success today and remember to enrich the lives of others in the same way.”
Simi Olusola-Ajayi, a graduating master’s student in Human-Computer Interaction(opens in new window) who represented her class at the ceremony, exemplifies Jahanian’s charge. In her remarks, she shared her story about discovering a new path at Carnegie Mellon and exploring the middle — “the space between who we thought we would be and who we are becoming right now.”
Simi Olusola-Ajayi
“I do not know what middles we will find ourselves navigating next. What rooms we will walk into. What adventures we will stumble into or charge into headfirst. But we get to do so with a masterclass subscription that never expires,” Olusola-Ajayi said. “We get to show up in every room, in every middle, in ways only a Carnegie Mellon education could have prepared us for.”
Her words resonated with Keenan Norton(opens in new window), a newly minted alumnus and Fulbright Scholar with a degree in chemical engineering, environmental and sustainability studies, and Hispanic studies.
“I am equipped with the cultural and political humility that will be required of the engineers of the future to fight for good in ways that are meaningful for and considerate of all stakeholders,” Norton said.
Beverly Da Costa, the first recipient of Carnegie Mellon’s Bachelor of Science in Robotics(opens in new window) degree, joined the group of students who met with Huang on Sunday morning.
As graduation approached, she reflected on her time at CMU(opens in new window) forging her own new path for the future.
“Problem-solving has been baked into every single class here, and I don’t just mean math problems. I mean resourcefulness,” she said of her CMU experience.
She noted lab research exposed her to the full complexity of real robotic systems — from wiring and electronics to code, testing and failures — while her classes reinforced those lessons through hands-on, experiential learning rather than theory alone.
“That bakes the memories and lessons into your brain in a way that sticks, especially the mistakes,” she said. “I feel ready for what’s next.”
In addition to celebrating its newest alumni, Carnegie Mellon University recognized four prominent leaders during the ceremony. CMU Provost James H. Garrett Jr.(opens in new window) conferred honorary degrees(opens in new window) upon Huang, as well as 2026 Tony Awards Nominee(opens in new window) Broadway producer and CMU alumna Jamie deRoy, International Poetry Forum founder Samuel Hazo and Nobel laureate in economic sciences Thomas Sargent.
