Hank Green, a prolific digital content creator and entrepreneur with the ethos “make things, learn stuff,” will deliver the address at the OneMIT Commencement Ceremony on Thursday, May 29.
Since the 1990s, Green has launched, built, and sustained a wide-ranging variety of projects, from videos to podcasts to novels, many featuring STEM-related topics and a signature enthusiasm for the natural world and the human experience. He often collaborates with his brother, author John Green.
The Greens’ educational media company, Complexly, produces content that is used in high schools across the U.S. and has been viewed more than 2 billion times. The company continues to grow its large number of YouTube channels, including SciShow, which investigates everything from the deepest hole on Earth to the weirdest kinds of lightning. Videos on other channels, such as CrashCourse, ask questions like “Where did democracy come from?” and “Why do we study art?” On his own platforms, Green takes on virtually any topic under the sun, including the weird science of tattoos and how ferrofluid speakers work.
Green has also launched platforms to help support other content creators, including VidCon, the world’s largest gathering that celebrates the community, craft, and industry of online video, which was acquired by Viacom in 2018. He also launched the crowdfunding platform Subbable, which was later acquired by Patreon. His latest book is the New York Times best-selling “A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor,” the sequel in a pair of novels that grapple with the implications of overnight fame, internet culture, and reality-shifting discoveries.
“Many of our students grew up captivated by the way Hank Green makes learning about complex science subjects accessible and fun — whether he’s describing climate change, electromagnetism, or the anatomy of a pelican,” says MIT President Sally Kornbluth. “Our students told us they wanted a Commencement speaker whose knowledge and insight are complemented by creativity, humor, and a sense of hope for the future. Hank and his endless curiosity more than fit the bill, and we’re thrilled to welcome him to join us in celebrating the Class of 2025.”
“I was just so honored to be invited,” Green says. “MIT has always represented the best of what happens when creativity meets rigorous inquiry, and I can’t wait to be part of this moment.”
Green has been a YouTube celebrity since starting a vlog with his brother in 2007, which led to the growth of a huge fanbase known as the NerdFighters and the Greens’ signature phrase “Don’t forget to be awesome.” Hank Green also writes songs and performs standup. Last summer he released a comedy special about his recent diagnosis and successful treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma.
“Hank Green shares our students’ boundless curiosity about how things work, and we’re excited to welcome such an enthusiastic educator to MIT. CrashCourse’s lucid, engaging videos have bolstered the efforts of millions of high-school students to master AP physical and social science curricula and have invited learners of all ages to better understand our universe, our planet and humanity,” says Les Norford, professor of architecture and chair of the Commencement Committee.
“Hank Green is an inspiration for those of us who want to make science and education accessible, and I’m eager to hear what words of wisdom he has for the graduating class. He embodies a pure and hopeful form of curiosity just like what I’ve observed across the MIT community,” says senior class president Megha Vemuri.
“As someone that has worked tirelessly to make science accessible to the public, Hank Green is an excellent choice for commencement speaker. He has commendably used his many skills to help improve the world,” says Teddy Warner, president of the Graduate Student Council.
Green joins notable recent MIT Commencement speakers including inventor and entrepreneur Noubar Afeyan (2024); YouTuber and inventor Mark Rober (2023); Director-General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (2022); lawyer and social justice activist Bryan Stevenson (2021); retired U.S. Navy four-star admiral William McRaven (2020); and three-term New York City mayor and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg (2019).