Justice Goodwin Liu of the Supreme Court of California will deliver the keynote address to the Class of 2026 at UCLA School of Law’s commencement ceremony on May 15.

Liu is among the leading lawyers, legal scholars, and jurists in the country today. Gov. Jerry Brown nominated him to the state’s high court in 2011, and he was retained by the electorate in 2014 and 2022.

The son of immigrants from Taiwan, Liu attended public schools in Sacramento from a young age. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Stanford, a master’s degree from Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and a law degree from Yale. Then, as a law clerk, he worked for Judge David Tatel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court.

His varied and distinguished legal career has included positions in the litigation practice of O’Melveny & Myers and in public service. He held pivotal roles in the U.S. Department of Education and the Corporation for National Service, where he helped launch AmeriCorps. Thereafter, he moved into academia, serving on the faculty of UC Berkeley School of Law, where he gained renown for his scholarship on constitutional law, education law and policy, and diversity in the legal profession.

UCLA Law dean Michael Waterstone announced Liu as the commencement speaker in a message to the law school community. “For more than two decades, Justice Liu has been one of the most respected and renowned leaders in the law, both in California and nationwide,” he wrote. “I am thrilled that he will speak at Commencement and offer his views on the importance of service, scholarship, hard work, and the roles that each of our graduates can play as lawyers in this particularly dynamic moment.”

UCLA Law’s commencement ceremony – honoring the law school’s J.D., LL.M., M.L.S., and S.JD. graduates – will take place in Pauley Pavilion on Friday, May 15. More information about the event can be found on the commencement website.