U of I Announces Commencement Speaker
Friday, 14 March 2025
The University of Illinois announced Chancellor Robert Jones will deliver this year's commencement address on Saturday, May 17th.
Jones became the university's 10th chancellor in 2016, and is the second-longest tenured chancellor since its creation in the 1960s.
Last November, Jones announced that he would be accepting the role of the 34th president of the University of Washington on August 1st, ending his tenure at U of I.
"It has been the honor of a lifetime to be a part of the Illinois family and truly the most profound experience of my 46 years in higher education," Jones said.
"I can't think of a better way to draw my time as chancellor to a close than by celebrating our remarkable 2025 graduates as they take what they've learned at Illinois and go on to change the world."
Jones will become the first African American president in Washington school history.
