Stacey Cunningham ’96, Former NYSE President, capital markets pioneer, proven technology leader and proud Mountain Hawk, will deliver the address at Lehigh’s 158th undergraduate spring commencement on Sunday, May 17, 2026.
Cunningham made history when she was named the first woman to lead the world’s largest stock exchange in its 234-year history. In this role, she oversaw not only the exchange itself but the broader NYSE Group, which includes four additional equities exchanges, two options exchanges and nearly $4 trillion in listed ETF assets.
“Returning to my alma mater to speak with this year’s graduates is incredibly meaningful to me,” Cunningham said. “Lehigh didn’t just give me a degree; it gave me a way of thinking. The Class of 2026 graduates with the tools to solve problems that have not yet been defined, in industries that do not yet exist. I cannot wait to see what they build.”
President Joseph J. Helble ’82 said, “I am pleased to welcome Stacey back to campus to address our graduates. Stacey’s insights on innovation, technology and building trust, as a strategic leader on the forefront of navigating change, will be a great asset to the graduating class as they take their first steps toward their post-Lehigh futures.”
From Lehigh to NYSE
While earning her engineering degree at Lehigh, with little interest in finance, Cunningham secured an internship on the NYSE trading floor. There, she discovered her love for markets and her path focused.
After graduating from Lehigh, Cunningham returned to the NYSE trading floor to join a specialist firm and ultimately become a market maker, an experience that laid the foundation for her years in finance. Cunningham later transitioned to exchange operator as she ascended the ranks at Nasdaq before returning home to the NYSE.
At the exchange, Cunningham rose through a series of leadership roles, including chief operating officer, where she integrated multiple exchange acquisitions and spearheaded the development of NYSE Pillar, the world’s most sophisticated exchange technology platform.
In 2018, she was named the NYSE’s 67th president, taking the helm of an exchange that listed the shares of 2,300 of the world’s most successful companies. She led the NYSE through the Covid-19 pandemic and onto the two biggest years in U.S. IPO history, 2020 and 2021. She drove important innovations in the U.S. capital markets, including the introduction of direct listings as an alternative to IPOs for companies seeking access to public markets.
Throughout her career, Cunningham has served as a passionate champion of the role capitalism and free markets play in creating economic growth and societal advancement. She has been named to the Forbes Most Powerful Women list (2018, 2019), Barron’s Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance (2020, 2021) and Crain’s New York Business’ Most Powerful Women in New York (2019, 2021).
Cunningham serves on the boards of the leading cloud connectivity provider Cloudflare, the New York Stock Exchange and the Georgetown University Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy. She is an advisor to the private equity firm Advent and Uniswap Labs, the digital asset technology provider and creator of the world’s largest decentralized exchange.
Returning to the Nest
Cunningham’s consistent engagement with the Lehigh community led to her involvement in Soaring Together’s 50-year celebration of women on campus, an institutional milestone. In addition, she delivered the Spencer C. Schantz Public Lecture in 2019, where her lecture titled “Engineering the 21st Century Stock Exchange” explored the development of the modern stock exchange from the years following 9/11, to the reforms put in place around the global financial crisis, to the modern day, as the exchanges and trading firms work together to ensure the U.S. capital markets remain at the forefront, now and into the future.
Visit the Commencement website for more information on Commencement programming and updates.
The 2026 schedule is as follows:
Graduate Commencement and Doctoral Hooding Ceremony
Recognizing master’s and doctoral candidates
Saturday, May 16, 2026
9:30 a.m. at Goodman Stadium
Baccalaureate
Saturday, May 16, 2026
4:00 p.m. at Packer Memorial Church
Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony
Sunday, May 17, 2026
9:30 a.m. at Goodman Stadium
