AMHERST — Kimberly S. Budd, who is serving as the 38th chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, will be the keynote speaker at the University of Massachusetts commencement, taking place Friday afternoon, May 15.
“I look forward to celebrating with the graduates of UMass Amherst as they take their next step toward shaping the future of our commonwealth,” Budd said in a statement.
Budd is the first Black woman to serve in the chief justice role, nominated to the position following the death of Chief Justice Ralph Gants in 2020. She was first appointed as an associate justice on Aug. 24, 2016.
“Chief Justice Budd is an exceptional jurist who has devoted her career to the common good and given voice to those who are not always heard,” Chancellor Javier A. Reyes said in a statement. “Her knowledge and experience will inspire our graduates to do more and be more as they embark on their futures and legacy after leaving UMass.”
The 156th commencement ceremony, starting at 5 p.m., will confer undergraduate degrees on more than 5,000 students, and Budd will be presented with an honorary degree. More than 20,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony.
The mid-May commencement, and late Friday afternoon start time, has been the norm in most recent years, though in 2023 the ceremony was held on a Friday morning in late May, and in 2024 the ceremony was held on a Saturday morning in late May.
Budd began her legal career as a law clerk to Chief Justice Joseph P. Warner of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. She worked as a litigation associate in the Boston office of Mintz before becoming an associate U.S. attorney in the Major Crimes and Drug Units of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, where she worked on hundreds of cases, ranging from narcotics to bank robbery to fraud.
She also served as a member of an ethics task force convened in response to several corruption scandals on Beacon Hill, as associate general counsel for Harvard University and as director of the Community Values program at Harvard Business School.
Budd has taught at both New England Law | Boston and Harvard Law School. She earned her juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School, and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.
