Mia Hamm, one of the most accomplished soccer players in history and a four-time NCAA champion at UNC, will deliver the keynote address at the school’s 2025 Spring Commencement at Kenan Stadium on Saturday, May 10.

The selection was announced during the UNC Board of Trustees meeting held Thursday morning and later shared by the university on its website.

“We are elated that Mia Hamm — arguably the most famous woman athlete in the world — will give the keynote address and share her unique perspective with our Class of 2025 graduates and their guests,” said Chancellor Lee Roberts. “She’s a wonderful example of Carolina excellence, and we eagerly await the insights and advice she has for our graduates.”

“It’s not an exaggeration to say that she is one of the greatest performers in her sport — at any level, of all time,” Roberts concluded to the trustees.

Hamm led Carolina to national titles in 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1993. She skipped the 1991 season to compete with the U.S. Women’s National Team in the first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup, which she also won. Upon returning to Chapel Hill, Hamm earned National Player of the Year honors in 1992 and 1993. She was also a three-time All-American, three-time ACC Player of the Year and a two-time ACC Female Athlete of the Year. Her 278 total points (103 goals and 72 assists) are still an NCAA scoring record. The Tar Heels played 95 total matches in which Hamm appeared and lost only once.

While representing Team USA, Hamm scored 158 international goals (a record among both male and female players which stood from 2004 until 2013), won two World Cups and two Olympic gold medals. She was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2007.

Off the field, Hamm founded the Mia Hamm Foundation in 1999 to honor the memory of her brother Garrett. The foundation conducts bone marrow research and furthers women’s sports programs. Hamm is also a benefactor of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. She received a Distinguished Alumna Award in 1997 and another Distinguished Alumna Award in 2009.

“I want the Class of 2025 to know that Carolina has prepared them to define their own legacy in this world,” Hamm said. “It’s a place where I was consistently challenged, loved and developed — not only into the player — but into the person I am today.”

More information about the 2025 Spring Commencement will be announced at a later date on the Commencement website. But Roberts did confirm on Thursday the ceremony would once again be held at night, with a start time of 7 p.m.

 

Featured image via Dakota Moyer

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