Mia Hamm ’94 to deliver 2025 Spring Commencement address
The world-renowned soccer player who won four national championships with the Tar Heels will speak at the ceremony on May 10, 2025 at Kenan Stadium.
Mia Hamm ’94, the world-renowned soccer player and Carolina alum, will deliver the 2025 Spring Commencement address, Chancellor Lee H. Roberts announced Thursday at a Board of Trustees meeting. The ceremony will be held at 7 p.m., Saturday, May 10, in Kenan Stadium.
“We are elated that Mia Hamm — arguably the most famous woman athlete in the world — will give the keynote address and share her unique perspective with our Class of 2025 graduates and their guests,” Roberts said. “Not only does she have one of the most impressive soccer careers in history, but she has also used her platform to further women’s sports programs, strengthen bone marrow research and help families of patients following organ transplants. She’s a wonderful example of Carolina excellence, and we eagerly await the insights and advice she has for our graduates.”
Mia Hamm won four NCAA championships while playing for Carolina and legendary coach Anson Dorrance. (Carolina Athletics)
During her time at Carolina, Hamm set the NCAA women’s soccer scoring record with 278 points and led the Tar Heels to NCAA championships in 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1993. She was atwo-time National Player of the Year in 1992 and 1993,an All-American and ACC Player of the Year for her last three years and was named the ACC Female Athlete of the Year in 1993 and 1994. She played soccer under Hall of Fame head coach Anson Dorrance throughout her time here. As a forward for the U.S. women’s national soccer team, Hamm scored 158 international goals, setting a record from 2004-2013 for both male and female players in the sport. She retired in 2004 with two world championships and two Olympic gold medals to her credit. In 2007, she was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
“I want the Class of 2025 to know that Carolina has prepared them to define their own legacy in this world,” Hamm said. “It’s a place where I was consistently challenged, loved and developed — not only into the player — but into the person I am today.”
Beyond soccer, Hamm founded the Mia Hamm Foundation in 1999 to honor the memory of her brother, Garrett. The foundation is dedicated to supporting bone marrow research and helping further women’s sports programs. In 2001, she established a fund in our Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center to help families of organ transplant patients. She received a Distinguished Alumna Award in 2009 and a Distinguished Young Alumna Award in 1997 by Carolina Alumni, then the General Alumni Association.
More information on Spring Commencement will be announced at a later date and found on the Commencement website.
