Speaker for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Erickson School, and School of Social Work Ceremony (Thursday, May 21 at 10:00 a.m.)
Jonathon Heyward – Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Artistic & Music Director of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center 
Jonathon Heyward took up the Music Director position of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 23/24; an extension of his contract was recently announced until 2030/31. He also holds the Artistic and Music Director positions with the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center.
This season, he returns to the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony and Detroit Symphony Orchestras, and makes his debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Recent highlights include concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Castilla y León Symphony, Galicia Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine and at the BBC Proms with Chineke! In the US, he has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among others.
He made his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, debut conducting Hannah Kendall’s Knife of Down, and led the world premiere of Giorgio Battistelli’s Wake, in a production by Graham Vick for the Birmingham Opera Company. He also conducted Weill’s Lost in the Stars with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and, last season, launched a four-year ‘Verdi Opera Initiative’ with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, commencing with performances of Aida, he returns next summer to lead Rigoletto.
Jonathon is a passionate advocate for music education and community outreach. He has been recognised among TIME magazine’s ‘Next Generation Leaders’ and Bloomberg’s ‘Ones to Watch’.
Speaker for the College of Engineering & Information Technology, College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, and Individualized Study Program Ceremony (Thursday, May 21 at 3:00 p.m.)
Holden Thorp – Editor-in-Chief of the Science Family of Journals and Professor of Chemistry and Medicine at George Washington University 
Holden Thorp became Editor-in-Chief of the Science family of journals in October 2019. He came to Science from Washington University, where he was provost from 2013 to 2019 and professor from 2013 to 2023. He is currently a professor of chemistry and medicine at George Washington University and on leave to serve as the Editor-in-Chief at Science.
Thorp joined Washington University after spending three decades at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), where he served as the 10th chancellor from 2008 through 2013.
Thorp earned a bachelor of science degree from UNC, a doctorate in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology, and completed postdoctoral work at Yale University. He holds honorary degrees from the Olin College of Engineering, Hofstra University, and North Carolina Wesleyan College and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Thorp cofounded Viamet Pharmaceuticals, which developed VIVJOA (oteseconazole), now approved by the FDA and marketed byMycovia Pharmaceuticals. Thorp is a venture partner at Hatteras Venture Partners, a consultant to Ancora, Huron, and Urban Impact Advisors, and is on the board of directors of PBS and Saint Louis University. He serves on the scientific advisory boards of the Yale School of Medicine and the Underwriters’ Laboratories Research Institutes. In 2026, Thorp was awarded the Live Long and Prosper Tribute Award by the Nimoy-Knight Foundation. In 2025, he was given the Donald A. B. Lindberg Award for Distinguished Health Communications by the Friends of the National Library of Medicine.