Hugh Jackman prepares to deliver his graduation speech at Ball State University’s commencement ceremony

Hugh Jackman returns to Indiana.

The veteran performer is scheduled to speak at Ball State University’s spring commencement, scheduled to be held on the Quad on May 2. The university-wide gathering will host approximately 2,800 doctoral, specialist, master’s and baccalaureate degree students. After the speech, the university will return the favor by awarding Jackman an honorary degree in arts.

The show will bring Jackman back to the Ball State campus after his first visit last September when he joined his partner Sutton Foster for the visit. Foster works as an instructor in the university’s theater department, and Jackman joined her during one of her educational visits. The duo co-starred on Broadway in Music man Before announcing their relationship last year.

Jackman returned to Ball State, located in Muncie, Indiana, in November to host a screening of his film Song Song Blue Before its release at Christmas. The film, written and directed by Craig Brewer and adapted from a 2008 documentary by Greg Kohs, casts Jackman and star Kate Hudson (Oscar nominee) as Mike and Claire Sardina, a couple who perform in a Neil Diamond tribute band called Lightning & Thunder.

“Hugh is a talented and versatile artist and a passionate advocate for the arts and humanities. For these reasons and many more, I am grateful that he has accepted my invitation to be his commencement speaker,” said Ball State University President Jeffrey S. Mearns. “I appreciate that Hugh continues to be generous in sharing his time and talent with our university community, and I look forward to hearing his address to the Class of 2026.”

Jackman is one of Hollywood’s most versatile performers, having moved from independent dramas and blockbusters to family films and major Broadway musicals. He’s the next star in Sheep investigations. As for his own education, Jackman studied at the University of Technology in Sydney, from which he graduated in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in communications.

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