The University of Arizona announced that this year’s spring commencement speaker would be former Google CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt.
He was the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, and the executive chairman from 2011 to 2015.
Eric Schmidt is a leader in Artificial Intelligence and co-founder of Schmidt Sciences, which is developing the first fully privately funded telescope. The UA will be supporting the project by developing instruments for the telescope itself, according to a UA press release.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University and with a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer sciences. He will be earning an honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the UA College of Science during commencement.
The telescope, Lazuli, is supposed to be completed by 2029 and is being supported by the Steward Observatory. According to the University of Arizona, this will lead to further investment in astrophysics.
According to Ewan Douglas, an associate astronomer at Steward Observatory and an associate professor in the Department of Astronomy, the purpose of the partnership is to “build on UA’s legacy of developing instrumentation for ground- and space-based telescopes.”
He says that one goal of the program is to accelerate the pace of discovery; “for me personally, that means shortening the time until we image asteroid belts and planets like our own around nearby stars.”
According to UA news, the project will focus on “adaptive optics,” which uses deformable mirrors to compensate for atmospheric turbulence, allowing clearer imaging once in space. The hope is to use the technology to detect dim planets that were previously undetectable.
Schmidt Sciences is also helping fund the UA’s development of adaptive optics to aid in the project.
He has done TED Talks on the topic of AI, with one in 2025 titled “The AI Revolution is Underhyped.” In the talk, he claims that people need to stay updated on what AI is doing, and that eventually it will take over every facet of our lives and can be ignored no longer.
Schmidt is also the CEO and Chairman of Relativity Space, a company that aims to make space more accessible to the general population and more sustainable. Schmidt acquired the company in 2025.
Since the announcement of Schmidt as the commencement speaker, posts began to be shared connecting Schmidt with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. A post made by Students for Socialism at UA posted an infographic titled “Eric Schmidt is an abuser,” stating that Schmidt is an Epstein affiliate.
The post includes a petition to pick another commencement speaker. The sponsoring organizations for the petition include SFS, FORCE, Planned Parenthood Generation Action and the Women and Gender Student Space.
However, according to the Epstein files themselves, released by the Department of Justice, it is unclear what level of connection there is between Schmidt and Epstein. While the two had exchanged emails and Schmidt was invited to many cocktail parties and dinners, it is unclear how many he attended.
For instance, an email sent from a blacked-out source states, “Hello Mr. Schmidt. Jeffrey Epstein understands you are in India, but says if you are back in NY Thursday, April 4th, you would be a welcome addition to a small dinner party he is having,” which was sent on March 25, 2013.
Epstein was also personally invited to a party following a screening of the movie “The Imitation Game,” a film about renowned scientist Alan Turing during World War II, at which Schmidt would be in attendance.
According to WIRED, he was also invited to a party with Epstein and Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell, but it is unclear whether he ever attended, and those close to Schmidt had told Epstein that he would likely be too busy to attend. WIRED also stated that in 2013, Epstein wrote he had not seen Schmidt for “quite a while.”
However, the Google cofounders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, had much closer connections with Epstein. According to WIRED, Page is in 314 files and Brin is in 294, and they were named in subpoenas related to Epstein’s sex-trafficking crimes and allegedly visited the island.
Another reason SFS did not want Schmidt speaking at commencement was because of his ongoing lawsuit against him for allegations of spying and sexual abuse.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Michelle Ritter filed a lawsuit against Schmidt, stating that he had “forcibly raped” her on a yacht in Mexico in 2021 and that they had sex without her consent at Burning Man in 2023. She also alleged that Schmidt built a server that allowed him to spy on her at all times.
While Ritter tried to fight it, the case was sent to arbitration, meaning it is no longer part of the public court system and will be handled privately or by a third party. This means there is no jury in place, and the process tends to move much quicker than a traditional court case.
There has been no public statement yet regarding the claims and outrage voiced by student organizations.
Honorary degrees awarded at commencement
At the commencement ceremony, other notable contributors to both UA and the Tucson community will receive honorary degrees. This includes Alice Chaiten Baker, Gabrielle Giffords, F. Ronald Rayner and Scott Stuber.
Baker will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, due to her commitment to advancing the arts and social sciences, her support for the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies, according to UA. She is also one of the primary funders of the Paul and Alice Baker Center for Public Media, along with her husband Paul Baker.
Giffords is a former United States House Representative and will receive an honorary Doctor of Letters from the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. Giffords was critically wounded in a 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, which led her legacy to be heavily driven by gun safety and awareness, and created the organization GIFFORDS, which is a gun rights advocacy and information group.
Rayner, an innovator in arid-land agriculture, will receive an honorary Doctor of Science from the College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences in recognition of his commitment to sustainability and agricultural research.
Stuber will receive an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts. He is an alumnus of the school, has dedicated time to the film industry, is attempting to revitalize United Artists alongside Amazon MGM Studios, and has worked under Netflix Films as well.
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