Classics chair David Blank to keynote 2026 Humanities commencement
Sean Brenner/UCLA Humanities
David Blank’s selection as commencement speaker reflects, in part, the timeless lessons embedded in his research about language, said Humanities Dean Alexandra Minna Stern.
| June 2, 2026
David Blank, a distinguished professor of classics and philosophy, will serve as keynote speaker for the 2026 Humanities Division commencement.
The ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 13, at Royce Hall. About 285 undergraduate and master’s degree students will participate in the main Humanities ceremony and nearly 1,400 family members and friends are expected to attend.
Blank, who also is the chair of the Department of Classics, has been a UCLA faculty member since 1980. A scholar of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, he is focused on understanding ancient ideas about language — its origins, the changes it undergoes, how it functions as a tool of communication, and how a speaker can get it right or wrong.
Alexandra Minna Stern, dean of the UCLA College Division of Humanities, said Blank’s selection as speaker reflects both his long-standing service to UCLA and the timeless lessons embedded in his scholarly work.
“Professor Blank is a distinguished Humanities faculty member who has provided leadership to the division and the university, and who has taught thousands of students about the wisdom and words of ancient thinkers,” she said.
Over the past 30 years, Blank has spent significant time in Naples, Italy, deciphering, reconstructing, translating, commenting on and publishing the papyrus manuscripts of the first-century Epicurean philosopher Philodemus — books that were buried in the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Graduates from most UCLA Humanities departments will participate in the division ceremony; the departments of English and linguistics will hold separate ceremonies on June 14, both at 2 p.m., and the philosophy department will hold its graduation event at 4 p.m. on June 13. In all, 1,016 students will earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Humanities majors during this month’s commencement exercises.
For more information, including instructions for graduating students and guests, visit the Humanities Commencement webpage.