Drexel University Names 2026 Commencement Speakers
Justin Best was the University-wide speaker in 2025.
Before Drexel University's Class of 2026 move their tassels to the other side and head off into their next chapter, they’ll hear inspiring words at the University-wide, college and/or school’s commencement ceremonies. Several keynote speakers are alumni, and all of them are leaders and innovators in their field.
See who will be inspiring graduating Dragons to soar to new heights.
University-Wide Speaker:
June 11 at 5 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park
Moogega “Moo” Cooper, MS ’08, PhD ’09, is a Planetary Protection Lead for the Mars rover Perseverance and group supervisor at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she protects the solar system from Earth-sourced contaminants. She helps keep Mars safe while looking for signs of life and preparing for human exploration. Now a planetary protection engineer, Cooper ensures that missions do not harm our ability to find life beyond Earth by sterilizing equipment with plasma and other advanced methods.
Beyond her scientific achievements, Cooper is deeply committed to inspiring the next generation. She regularly engages audiences of all ages to share the wonder of science and encourage interest in STEAM fields. Cooper’s contributions have been recognized with numerous honors and awards, including the NASA Early Career Public Achievement Medal, multiple JPL Voyager Awards for Technical Leadership, and The Root 100 list of Most Influential African Americans.
College and School Speakers
College of Computing & Informatics
June 10 at 10 a.m. at the Highmark Mann Center
Chris Cera, BS computer science ’01, MS ’04, is the CEO of Arcweb Technologies, a product design and development company with expertise in digital health, artificial intelligence and human interface design. Prior to Arcweb, Cera was the chief technology officer and co-founder of Vuzit, a cloud document management software company that was acquired by Accusoft. He has also been a software engineer for several companies, co-founded nonprofit Philly Startup Leaders and co-authored three patents and numerous peer-reviewed publications.
School of Education
June 10 at 12:30 p.m. at the Academy of Music
Asya Johnson, EdD ’20, is an educational leader and scholar-practitioner with more than 20 years of experience advancing equity-centered school transformation, early college access and culturally responsive leadership. She began her career as an educator in North Philadelphia and is the creator and founding principal of HBCU Early College Prep High School in Queens, New York.
Johnson mentors doctoral students at Drexel, serves as an adjunct professor at New York University and has contributed to educational policy through service on New York City’s School Diversity Advisory Group and national equity initiatives. A recognized leader, she has received numerous awards and fellowships honoring her impact on educational innovation and equity.
College of Nursing and Health Professions
June 10 at 2 p.m. at the Highmark Mann Center
Gloria Donnelly, PhD, is the founding dean and a professor emerita at Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions, as well as the founding dean of nursing at La Salle University. As a nurse educator for 40 years, she has designed many nursing programs and was one of the first to design and offer online and hybrid nursing degrees.
She is the author of seven books, the winner of two American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year awards and the recently retired editor-in-chief of Holistic Nursing Practice, The Science of Health and Healing. In addition to her educational endeavors, Donnelly is a stand-up comedian who has used her comedic talents to raise funds to assist nursing and health professions students and to manage her own stress.
Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship
June 10 at 2 p.m. at Mandell Theater in the Creese Student Center
Doc Parghi, BS ’92, MBA ’98, is a venture capitalist with operational experience running and scaling businesses globally. Currently, he is a partner with SRI Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm that provides funding, advice and liquidity solutions to early-stage start-ups primarily in enterprise software and deep tech.
Parghi was on the founding team at AppLabs, the world’s largest independent software testing company with more than 2,500 QA professionals in the U.S., U.K. and India. He helped lead AppLabs to become the largest company of its kind.
Goodwin College of Professional Studies
June 10 at 5 p.m. at Mandell Theater in the Creese Student Center
Curtis L. Jenkins is an accomplished executive leader, entrepreneur, author and speaker known for delivering powerful, practical messages that bridge education and real-world execution. As vice president of a global project management office and founder of professional training and coaching business Jenkins & Associates, he has spent his career helping individuals and organizations turn vision into measurable results.
Bennett S. LeBow College of Business and School of Economics
June 11 at 8:30 a.m. at the Highmark Mann Center
Leonard Comma ’92 currently serves as a board director for The Wills Group and sits on the board of the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego. He is also a mentor with The ExCo Group, where he advises senior executives on leadership and transition strategies. Comma spent nearly 20 years at Jack in the Box Inc., culminating in his role as chairman and CEO from 2014 to 2020.
Pennoni Honors College: Custom-Designed Major
June 11 at 8:30 a.m. at the Mandell Theater in the Creese Student Center
Kevin Matthews ’14 is one of the first graduates of Drexel University’s Custom-Designed Major. He integrated sociology, history, economics and business to better understand the global fashion industry and conducted research on masculinity in menswear retail, culminating in a senior thesis that was published in Critical Studies in Men’s Fashion.
Following graduation, Matthews began his career at Urban Outfitters before attending the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. He transitioned back into the fashion industry, joining Dover Street Market Paris, where he supported the development of emerging brands. He now leads global commercial strategy at CamperLab.
Dana and David Dornsife School of Public Health
June 11 at 8:30 a.m. at the Academy of Music
Alonzo Plough, PhD, is the chief science officer and vice president of Research-Evaluation-Learning at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He aligns the foundation’s work with the best evidence on improving health equity and manages the two grantmaking portfolios focused on innovation and emerging issues.
Plough has been a national leader in public health practice for more than 25 years in various roles including with the Los Angeles, Seattle and King County, and Boston departments of public health. He is currently a clinical professor of population health at the University of Washington School of Public Health. Plough has published an extensive body of peer-reviewed research and is the author or editor of eight books.
College of Arts and Sciences
June 11 at 12:30 p.m. at the Highmark Mann Center
Danielle Reinhart, BS mathematics ’99, MS finance ’99, is a proven, trusted leader with more than 25 years of analytical, data and financial expertise. Reinhart is the vice president of Data Intelligence & Governance for Unisys and has also served as a senior analyst at IBM, developing the rates for their distribution channels and turning around “problem” contracts using her detailed analytical capabilities.
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems
June 11 at 12:30 p.m. at the Academy of Music
Rita Johnson-Greene, BS electrical engineering ’99, is an accomplished international healthcare executive who has held leadership roles at several world-class organizations and launched three of the five gene therapies currently marketed in the U.S., including Luxturna, the first FDA-approved gene therapy. Johnson-Greene currently serves as chief financial officer at Ocugen, a biotechnology company dedicated to developing gene therapies for blindness.
She serves on the BIOMED Dean's Executive Advisory Council and as a guest lecturer for the school's biomedical engineering graduate students.
College of Engineering
June 12 at 8:30 a.m. at the Highmark Mann Center
Walter Nicholas Howley III, BS ’75, is co-founder and chairman of TransDigm Group, a New York Stock Exchange-listed global designer, producer and supplier of highly engineered aircraft components that is among the world’s largest aerospace component suppliers.
Now as co-trustee of the Howley Foundation, his philanthropic ties to Drexel include the Doug Peacock Scholarship, funded through TransDigm in honor of his late co-founder. The foundation also established the Howley College Scholars Program, providing full undergraduate scholarships to 10 graduates from seven Philadelphia Catholic high schools. Howley was also elected to Drexel’s Board of Trustees and served on the Academic Affairs and Finance and Human Resources committees.
Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
June 12 at 12:30 p.m. at the Highmark Mann Center
Girish Balakrishnan is the senior director of creative innovation at Netflix, where he leads studio investment strategy across emerging technologies. With more than a decade of experience spanning studio strategy, business development and production innovation across live action, animation and games, he has helped shape how modern content is created through contributions to films such as Disney’s “The Jungle Book” and Warner Bros.’ “Ready Player One.”
He holds a patent for a mobile virtual camera system, is a recipient of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) Progress Medal and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Television Academy and a fellow of the Visual Effects Society. He remains committed to supporting and educating the next generation of filmmakers and technologists.