Duke Alumna Amy Hood to Speak at 2026 Commencement Ceremony

Beyond financial performance, Hood has championed social impact initiatives, including Microsoft’s commitment to becoming carbon negative and its $1 billion Climate Innovation Fund. Hood has also been a leader of Microsoft’s $750 million initiative to advance affordable housing solutions in the Puget Sound region.  

Her leadership has earned consistent recognition, including repeated appearances on Forbes’ list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, ranking No. 16 in 2025, and both Fortune’s and Barron’s annual list of the most influential women in business and finance. 

In addition to her work at Microsoft, Hood and her husband, Max Kleinman ’93, are minority owners of the Seattle Sounders, a Major League Soccer franchise.  

“I am delighted that Amy Hood will address the Class of 2026 at Commencement,” said Duke University President Vincent E. Price. “Amy is a thoughtful and visionary leader, and I am confident her address will resonate with our graduates and inspire them as they celebrate this milestone.” 

Hood will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.  

Honorary Degree Recipients

Duke will also award honorary degrees to dancer and choreographer Dianne R. McIntyre, legal scholar and policy adviser Cass R. Sunstein, and soccer champion and media figure Abby Wambach during its 2026 commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 10. 

Read more about the honorary degree recipients below. 

Dianne R. McIntyre

Dianne R. McIntyre is a celebrated dancer and choreographer whose artistry has shaped American dance for more than five decades. Throughout her career, McIntyre has been an innovator and a mentor, nurturing and inspiring generations of dancers while expanding the boundaries of contemporary performance.  

After earning a BFA from The Ohio State University, McIntyre founded Sounds in Motion, a Harlem-based dance studio and touring company that became a creative hub for artists. For more than 20 years, McIntyre’s ensemble of dancers and musicians performed throughout the United States and in Europe, appearing at major venues such as The Joyce Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music and The Kennedy Center.  

As a choreographer, McIntyre’s created works have included Broadway shows, concert dances, musical and theatrical productions, and film and television. Her work has been commissioned by leading institutions including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theatre of Harlem, the American Dance Festival, and Jacob’s Pillow. In Durham, she has served as a faculty member for the American Dance Festival and completed a residency at Duke in 2022, where she developed and partnered with Duke Arts to present “In the Same Tongue.” 

McIntyre’s numerous honors include a Doris Duke Artist Award, three Bessie Awards, a Helen Hayes Award, a John S. Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Kennedy Center Master of African American Choreography Medal.  

Cass R. Sunstein

Cass R. Sunstein is one of America’s most influential legal scholars whose work has helped shape modern understanding of constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and behavioral economics. In 2018, he received the Holberg Prize, often described as the “Nobel Prize for the Humanities.” 

Sunstein taught at the University of Chicago Law School for 27 years and currently serves as the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard University. The author of hundreds of scholarly articles, he has been heralded as the most cited law professor in the United States and has published dozens of books, including New York Times bestsellers “Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness” (with Richard H. Thaler) and “The World According to Star Wars.”  

From 2009 to 2012, Sunstein served as administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, where he oversaw federal regulatory policy and advanced evidence-based decision making. After leaving the federal government, Sunstein founded and now directs the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard, his alma mater, where he earned both his undergraduate and law degrees. 

In 2020, Sunstein was appointed to chair the World Health Organization’s Technical Advisory Group on Behavioral Insights and Sciences for Health. He has provided congressional testimony on many subjects and has served as an adviser to officials at organizations including the United Nations, the European Commission, and the World Bank. 

Abby Wambach

Abby Wambach is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, and one of the most accomplished athletes in the history of women’s soccer. A six-time U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year, Wambach was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2019 and retired as the all-time leading goal scorer in international women’s soccer. 

Since retiring, Wambach has become a leading voice for equality and inclusion, playing a prominent role in advocating for equal pay for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. She is also the co-founder of Treat Media — an award-winning media company — and is a co-founder and part owner of Angel City FC, the first majority-female-owned soccer club.  

She authored the bestselling book “WOLFPACK: How to Come Together, Unleash Our Power, and Change the Game,” based on her 2018 commencement speech at Barnard College. Named one of the “50 Most Powerful People in Podcasting,” Wambach co- hosts “We Can Do Hard Things” with her wife, Glennon Doyle, and “Welcome to the Party” with Julie Foudy and Billie Jean King. 

She attended the University of Florida, where she was part of the team that won the school’s first NCAA national championship in women’s soccer in 1998. She was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. 

Throughout the university’s history, Duke has awarded honorary degrees to recognize extraordinary accomplishment and dedication to improving society. A complete list of past recipients is available on the honorary degree website.