Tuck Celebrates the MBA Class of 2026 at Investiture

Held ahead of Dartmouth’s degree-conferring ceremonies on Sunday, June 14, the ceremony welcomed the MBA Class of 2026 into what Dean Matthew J. Slaughter called “the world’s best alumni network.”

“Class of 2026, here we are,” Slaughter said in his welcome address. “You have successfully navigated what is, in my opinion, the most rigorous and relevant business education in the world.”

At a time of extraordinary complexity and possibility, Slaughter called on graduates to carry forward the relationships and trust they built during their time at Tuck.

“Over the last 22 months, you graduates have experienced something increasingly rare and increasingly valuable: a community built on genuine human connection,” Slaughter said. “The friendships, study groups, tripod teams, world travels, and other shared experiences that defined your time at Tuck are more than cherished memories. They are a reminder that leadership begins with relationships.”

The ceremony’s keynote address was delivered by Debi Brooks T’86, cofounder and CEO of The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the world’s largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson’s research. Since launching the foundation with Michael J. Fox in 2000, Brooks has helped lead one of the most influential nonprofit organizations of the past 25 years, bringing a business-minded, entrepreneurial approach to the search for a cure.

Brooks told graduates that her own career path, from Tuck to Goldman Sachs to the nonprofit sector, was something she never could have planned.

“Most of you have a plan for what lies ahead,” Brooks said. “Some of you will prove to be prescient, but for the majority, you’ll learn that there is no app that tells you where to turn, backtrack, or avoid the route that requires tolls. What comes next, and next after that, is going to be part of the adventure.”

Brooks reflected on arriving in Hanover nearly 40 years ago as a first-generation college graduate who was “equal parts gung-ho and out of my element.” Tuck, she said, quickly felt like home.

“I visited a few, Harvard, Wharton, but when I got to Hanover, I knew my search was over,” Brooks said. “Tuck immediately felt like home, a new place where I could find my way and yet belong.”

That unexpected path eventually led her to Michael J. Fox and to what became The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, where she helped build a new model for accelerating scientific discovery.

For Brooks, that meant asking a simple but powerful question: “What if we treated curing Parkinson’s like a business problem?” The answer helped define the foundation’s approach to funding research, advancing collaboration, taking smart risks, and deploying philanthropic capital more strategically.

Her message to graduates was not to follow her path, but to stay open to their own.

“My appeal is an invitation to be open about how you are going to make your mark,” Brooks said. “Tuck has given you much: this community, these skills and relationships. Make the most of them, not just in the pursuit of capitalistic ideals, but in making room in your life to also give, serve, and solve problems in the wider world around you.”

The ceremony also included the presentation of the 2026 Tuck Distinguished Achievement Medal to Andrew Beckstoffer T’66, owner of Beckstoffer Vineyards and a transformative figure in California’s wine industry. In remarks read on his behalf, Beckstoffer reflected on the lasting influence of Tuck in his life and career.

“My memories, education, and valuable lessons gained from my time at Tuck have carried me through so many moments of my life,” Beckstoffer wrote. “To the Class of 2026, congratulations. I am sure that your years at Tuck will prove to be as beneficial to you in your future as they have been to me. Do well by doing good.”

Following the recognition of Tuck Scholars and student award recipients, class president Matthew Sindelar T’26 presented the class gift and reflected on the small moments that shaped the Class of 2026. The magic of Tuck, Sindelar said, was not only in major traditions and events, but in the everyday acts of care that turned classmates into community.

“We walked into these woods as 293 strangers,” Sindelar said. “And slowly, almost imperceptibly, we became a community.”

Class speaker Ryan Calkin T’26 built on that theme, using the image of the Tuck shield as a metaphor for the class’s transformation. A former engineer at General Motors, Calkin described Tuck as “a forge for leadership,” where the intensity of the MBA experience, and the support of classmates, strengthened each member of the class.

“Tuck takes high-potential students and forges them into strong leaders,” Calkin said. “By 293 smiths and hammers, you all made thousands of impacts on each other, aligning our values to our talents.”

Calkin celebrated the pressure and joy of the Tuck experience, from the core curriculum and recruiting to tripod hockey, Diwali, Drag Brunch, small group dinners, and the quiet moments of friendship that define life in Hanover. 

“In all those moments, we cool down and relax,” Calkin said. “We feel the support and the belonging in our community. We begin to trust our new selves.”

As the ceremony drew to a close, Calkin urged his classmates to carry the values of Tuck with them into the world.

“May you carry your newly forged Tuck shields on your hearts, guarding your values and virtues, principles and passions,” he said. “Contribute to the world, create great things, build impressive institutions, take care of your families, and serve a cause larger than yourselves.”

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