Kiesse Nanor, a 26-year-old Ghanaian-born American, is one of three students and the only female who will be addressing the 375th commencement ceremony of the prestigious Harvard University on Thursday, May 28, 2026.

Kiesse Nanor, a graduating student of economics and classics, is the Latin Salutatorian for the ceremony. The Latin Salutatorian is to deliver her address in Latin, which is one of the oldest parts of the ceremony.

According to a short profile of her shared on Harvard Magazine, the 26-year-old has a deep musical background. She studied piano performance at the New England Conservatory of Music during her high school days at Phillips Exeter Academy.

Nanor’s profile on her high school website indicates that she inherited her musical prowess from her parents, who are both “musically inclined”. At age 3, her parents got her first piano.

At just age 5, she transitioned to a full-sized keyboard before her parents decided to pay for professional lessons for her because of her talent and passion.

Nanor has been the music director for Harvard’s Din & Tonics a cappella group, with whom she is setting out on a world tour a few days after graduation.

She also loves ancient languages — an affinity which started early in high school, where she first studied ancient Greek and Latin. Aside from English, Nanor is proficient in Greek, Latin, and ancient Egyptian.



In an interview quoted in Harvard Magazine, Nanor indicated that her high school played a key role in her proficiency in many languages.

She recalled how they practised Latin during dinner at the high school.

“I was lucky enough to go to a high school [Phillips Exeter Academy] that had a really robust classical languages programme, and there was a classics club I was really involved in. Every Friday, we’d all get dinner and try to have our only conversation be in Latin,” she is quoted to have said.



About the Harvard Commencement ceremony:

Harvard University selects every year three degree-earning students — two undergraduates and one graduate student — to address the University community during Commencement exercises in Harvard Yard, the graduation ceremony of the university.

The Commencement event is used to celebrate graduates of the university. Aside from the iconic addresses at the event, there is a procession of graduates in academic gowns through Harvard Yard.

There is also the official conferring of degrees to graduating students.

At Harvard University, “commencement” means the beginning of a new stage in life after graduation.

Read her profile from Harvard Magazine below:

Meet Harvard’s 2026 Student Commencement Speakers

Kiesse Nanor

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