Blue skies shone over the Pittsburgh skyline at F.N.B. Stadium during Chatham University’s spring 2026 commencement ceremony this past Sunday, May 3.
This was one of the largest graduation ceremonies to date, with about 420 students walking, one of the event planners Dr. Sean Nonnenmacher said in an interview with the Communiqué.
“It’s such a beautiful celebratory moment, I think. Students have worked for years and years and years toward getting their degree and certificates and minors,” Nonnenmacher said. “It really is a culmination of their experience at Chatham.”
In an event bursting with Chatham pride, Dr. Lisa Lambert presided over her first ceremony as University president, welcoming and honoring President and CEO of the Senator John Heinz History Center Dr. Andrew Masich with an honorary degree from the University as commencement speaker.
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Dr. Matt Redinger awarded the Jane Burger Award for Undergraduate Advising to Dr. Ethan Block and the Jane Burger Award for Graduate Advising to Dr. John Dimoff during the ceremony as well.
Vice President of Operations and Communications Bill Campbell called the names of the graduates to walk across the stage, and Lambert concluded the ceremony by inviting the new graduates into the ranks of Chatham alums.
This is the first year that the ceremony was held at F.N.B. Stadium, and this was F.N.B. Stadium’s first time hosting a commencement ceremony.
“We were kind of trailblazing with them and helping them learn how to do a commencement through the ceremony,” Nonnenmacher said.
In past years, students graduated from the David L. Lawrence Convention Center Downtown, but this spring, the Convention Center was unavailable due to the NFL draft and the Pittsburgh Marathon.
The arrangements for next year’s graduation have not been announced yet.
Check out some of the highlights from this year’s commencement in the photo gallery above.
