Members of Rose-Hulman’s record-breaking Class of 2025 are ready to dream big, embrace disruption, push the boundaries of what is possible, and create a better tomorrow after earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees—in many cases both—during the Institute’s 147^th Commencement on Saturday, May 31.

This year’s graduates join a list of Rose-Hulman alumni who have forged innovative breakthroughs leading to such life-changing developments as the color television and transistor radio, semiconductors, and lifesaving medical technology advancements. The college’s graduates also have contributed toward putting astronauts on the moon, helped countless patients regain mobility with joint replacements, and started entrepreneurial companies throughout the world. 

“In countless ways [Rose-Hulan alumni] have changed the world. And you will too!” stated Rose-Hulman President Robert A. Coons before handing diplomas to 564 graduates—the largest graduating class in school history. “You made it to this moment in different ways, from different backgrounds, and on different journeys ... Your time here has contributed to our expanding history of innovation, entrepreneurship, and discovery that has helped shape the world.” 

The Class of 2025 hopes to follow in the footsteps of Commencement Speaker Jeff Ready, a 1996 computer science alumnus who has taken the skills and entrepreneurial ambitions gained at Rose-Hulman to becoming one of the nation’s top 25 Information Technology (IT) innovators as co-founder and chief executive of Indianapolis-based Scale Computing, a market leader in edge computing, virtualization, and hyperconverged solutions. He is annually listed alongside forward-thinking IT leaders from Dell, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, and Intel for contributions to computing. 

Ready and computer science classmate Scott Loughmiller started a business, Terre Haute’s first internet service provider, during their senior year on campus. The enterprise resulted from a passion for entrepreneurship and computing that had brought Ready to attending Rose-Hulman. In the third grade, Ready and his father had built a personal computer, an IBM replica, from scratch materials so that the young boy could learn coding and create simple software. 

Later, Ready found a home to continue learning about computing at Rose-Hulman, which had students using Apple Computing co-founder Steve Jobs’ state-of-the-art NeXT computer workstations across campus.  

Now, 29 years after graduating, Ready asked members of the Class of 2025 to recall the spark that ignited their passion to becoming engineers, scientists, or mathematicians.

“Many of you will go on to become great engineers,” said Ready, who also received an honorary doctorate in engineering from Rose-Hulman during Commencement. “Some will build successful businesses, become doctors or lawyers, or be devoted stay-at-home moms and dads. Many of you will take on more than one of these roles over your lifetime. And when you least expect it, life will surprise you—surprises that may dwarf the stress you felt as a student here: Career challenges, financial setbacks, health issues, and family struggles. It happens to all of us.”

He continued, “When that happens—when things feel harder than you ever expected—stop for a moment and reconnect with your spark. Let it remind you why you started down this path and what drives you.

Because that spark is yours alone—and it's uniquely powerful enough to carry you forward.”

Hoping to follow in Ready’s footsteps, graduating students Ryan Brown, Andrew Nichols, Elijah Johnson, and Evan O’Brien founded a startup, Zernike Precision Optics Inc., that received funding from the Rose Angels venture capital group and will begin forging business operations this summer at a non-profit center for coworking and entrepreneurship in Bloomington, Indiana.

Meanwhile, the Rose Squared concurrent degree program allowed 72 students—the largest group in program history—to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees during their four years on campus. Also, 53 percent of this year’s graduates earned honors in their academic majors.

“We’ve spent years learning how to build things that last. But the most lasting thing we’ve built is this community. Of classmates who became collaborators, teammates, and friends. Of shared struggle, celebration, and a belief that maybe all those sleepless nights were worth it,” said Senior Class President Lexie Crawford, who graduated with a civil engineering degree. “Now, we’re about to go out and build a lot more. But we’ll carry with us the blueprint Rose gave us: a foundation of excellence, resilience, and a drive to make the world a little better than we found it.” 

Other Commencement speakers were 1999 mechanical engineering alumna Nellie Hohne, president of the Rose Alumni Advisory Board; Student Government Association Past President Jack Cooperman, who graduated with a computer engineering degree; and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Past President Freddie Uriostegui, who earned a biomedical engineering degree.

In his closing remarks to this year’s graduates, President Coons stated, “I hope your time at Rose-Hulman has not only imparted knowledge but also instilled in you a passion for innovation and a drive for further discovery. Innovation is, after all, about finding new ways to solve problems and create value, being willing to take risks and make mistakes in order to learn and to grow. These are skills that your Rose-Hulman education has helped you refine and further develop. Combining these skills with a willingness to dare to dream big and embrace disruption, you can push the boundaries of what is possible, creating a better tomorrow for all.”

Then, President Coons recalled a famous quote from Apple Computing entrepreneur Steve Jobs, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

Coons added, “Today, I am confident I am looking at a group of leaders. Leaders poised to predict the future, by creating it!”

Commencement By The Numbers

147 – Number of commencements in Rose-Hulman history
564 – Number of Bachelor of Science and master’s degree graduates – A RECORD
138 – Number of women receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees (24%)
Top Academic Majors – Mechanical engineering, 154; computer science and software engineering, 143; electrical and computer engineering, 78; engineering management, 62; chemical engineering, 45; civil engineering, 42; biology and biomedical engineering, 37; physics, optical engineering and nanoengineering, 29; engineering design, 22
53% – Percentage of undergraduates graduating with academic honors
63 – Number of first-generation graduates receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees (11%)
39 – States represented among graduates; Top States: Indiana (141 students – 27% of domestic graduates), Illinois (89), Ohio (43), California (47), Texas (23), Kentucky (16), and Minnesota (15)
Other Countries Represented (8): China (22 students), India (6), South Korea (3), Greece (1), Morocco (1), Nigeria (1), Taiwan (1), and Vietnam (1)

Student, Faculty & Staff Honors

The following honors were bestowed upon graduating students while faculty and staff members were recognized in awards presented at a pre-Commencement awards ceremony:

John T. Royse Award (Most Outstanding Graduate): Vineet Ranade, Computer Engineering graduate from Mountain View, California
Herman A. Moench Distinguished Senior Commendation: Alisha Mastakar, a NanoEngineering and Optical Engineering graduate, Terre Haute
Heminway Gold Medals (academic top of class):  Salik Ahmad, Computer Engineering graduate from Plainfield, Indiana; Kyle Asbury, a Computer Science and Mathematics graduate from New Castle, Indiana; Ariadna Duvall, a Software Engineering graduate from Bainbridge, Indiana; Calvin Hamilton, a Computer Engineering graduate from Golden, Colorado; Natalie Hannum, a Biomedical Engineering graduate from Indianapolis; Kaylee Lane, a Computer Science graduate from Akron, Indiana; Benjamin Lyons, a Mathematics and Physics Graduate from Blair, Nebraska; Henry Nunns, a Computer Engineering and Mathematics graduate from Saint Charles, Illinois; Vineet Ranade, a Computer Engineering graduate from Mountain View, California; Justin Roberts, a Computer Engineering graduate from Cedar Park, Texas; Joshua Schrock, a Computer Engineering graduate from Goshen, Indiana; Mark Serdinak, a Mechanical Engineering graduate from Sagamore Hills, Ohio; Ellen Shales, a Biomedical Engineering graduate from West Chicago, Illinois; Blaise Swartwood, a Computer Science graduate from Mililani, Hawaii; and Isaac Towne, a Computer Engineering graduate from Wyoming, Ohio
President’s Outstanding Service Award: Dale Long, Executive Editor of Echoes Alumni Magazine and Director of Media Relations
Board of Trustees’ Outstanding Scholar Award: Tim Grose, PhD, Associate Professor of China Studies
Dean’s Outstanding Teacher Award: Daniel Chang, PhD, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering