Convocation 2026

Caltech's annual Convocation ceremony will take place on Friday, September 25, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. in Beckman Auditorium. Convocation marks the Institute's formal and official welcome to all incoming undergraduate and graduate students.

We invite all members of the Caltech community, including new and returning students, faculty, staff, and postdocs, to come together to celebrate the beginning of the academic year and help welcome our new students.

The ceremony will begin with all new students processing into Beckman Auditorium from the south end of Beckman Mall. Current faculty, staff, students, and postdocs are encouraged to arrive by 8:45 a.m. to take their seats in the auditorium and be part of the warm welcome for the incoming students as they enter.

This year's program will include remarks from Vice President for Student Affairs and Faculty Dean of Students Kevin Gilmartin and a welcome from President Ray Jayawardhana, along with a keynote address from Tammy Ma (BS '05), Deputy Principal Associate Director for Science & Technology at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility & Photon Sciences and a member of the team behind the historic 2022 fusion ignition breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility. The discussion will explore the pursuit of ambitious scientific goals, as well as the opportunities and challenges that come with tackling some of the world's most complex problems.

A community brunch will follow immediately after the event on Beckman Mall.

Ignition: The Science of Beginning

Dr. Tammy Ma (BS '05)
Deputy Principal Associate Director for Science & Technology
National Ignition Facility & Photon Sciences
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Dr. Tammy Ma (BS '05) is a plasma physicist and Deputy Principal Associate Director for Science & Technology at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility & Photon Sciences, where she leads efforts to advance laser driven fusion as a potential source of abundant, low carbon energy. Ma was part of the team at the National Ignition Facility that achieved fusion ignition in December 2022, producing more energy from a fusion reaction than the laser energy delivered to the target, a historic milestone in the decades long pursuit of fusion energy. She serves on the U.S. Department of Energy's Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Her honors include the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and the Department of Energy Early Career Research Award. An experienced public speaker, Ma has given a TED Talk on fusion energy and was recently featured in The Washington Post. She earned her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Caltech in 2005.