Lerone A. Martin to deliver 2026 Baccalaureate address

Lerone A. Martin will deliver Stanford’s 2026 Baccalaureate address, the University announced Thursday. The Baccalaureate ceremonies will begin on June 13 at 10:00 a.m. in Frost Amphitheater.

Martin is the Martin Luther King, Jr., Centennial Professor in Religious Studies and African American Studies, the director of The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute and the author of two books: “Preaching on Wax” and “The Gospel J. Edgar Hoover. He is also the author of the forthcoming “Young King: The Making of Martin Luther King Jr.,” which explores King’s childhood in the context of his later activism, set to be published in May. Martin will serve as the incoming chair of the Religious Studies Department. 

“With Lerone Martin as our Baccalaureate speaker, we are inviting our graduates into a moment of deep reflection held alongside celebration,” Tiffany Steinwert, dean for religious and spiritual life, said in a statement to the Stanford Report. “Dr. Martin helps us see the past is not behind us but alive within us, shaping the questions we ask and the futures we imagine.”

In addition to his scholarship, Martin is the recipient of several awards, including the W.C. Pennington Award, the National Endowment for the Humanities and a fellowship from The American Council of Learned Societies, among others. 

“Being selected as Baccalaureate speaker is an extraordinary privilege,” Martin told the Stanford Report. “I’m incredibly grateful to Stanford — to the faculty, staff, students and community whose brilliant minds challenged me, displays of courage fueled me and generous hearts inspired me. I’m deeply thankful for the opportunity to celebrate this meaningful moment together.”  

Martin teaches several classes cross-listed in the political science and comparative studies in race and ethnicity (CSRE) departments. This spring, he is teaching the course “RELIGST 266A/AFRICAM 266C: Religion and the Civil Rights Movement: Race, Faith, and Kinship.” 

Previous Baccalaureate speakers include Professor of Art History Alexander Nemerov, University of Southern California’s Dean of Religious Life Varun Soni and Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl. 

The Daily has reached out to Martin for comment.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

The post Lerone A. Martin to deliver 2026 Baccalaureate address appeared first on The Stanford Daily.