Bennett Schmitt selected as salutatorian for 2025 University of Notre Dame graduating class

Bennett Schmitt from Jasper, Indiana, has been selected as salutatorian of the 2025 University of Notre Dame graduating class.

The 180th University Commencement Ceremony will be held May 18 (Sunday) in Notre Dame Stadium for graduates and guests. During the ceremony, as salutatorian, Schmitt will offer the invocation.

Schmitt, who has majors in environmental sciences and applied and computational mathematics and statistics and a minor in energy studies, will graduate summa cum laude from the College of Science with a 4.0 grade point average. He is a Sorin Scholar with the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement, a member of the dean’s list and a Phi Beta Kappa early inductee.

He participated in research on sustainability and clean energy all four years at Notre Dame in the Jaffe Solid-State Chemistry Laboratory under Assistant Professor Adam Jaffe, the High Temperature Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory under Associate Professor Antonio Simonetti and the Fire and Grazing Ecology Laboratory under Professor of the Practice Ryan Sensenig.

With Jaffe, Schmitt is a co-author of a paper published in the journal Chemical Science, focused on developing novel materials for clean energy storage technology.

In addition, Schmitt works as an agrivoltaics policy researcher in the University’s Nanovic Institute for European Studies, where he led the development of a policy brief to support combined agriculture and energy generation operations in the Midwest.

This spring, he was awarded the Nanovic Undergraduate Research Conference Silver Prize for his work on the policy brief, which will be presented to the Indiana state legislature. He has also presented his research at a number of conferences and workshops, both on and off campus.

Schmitt conducted research in the Nanotechnology for Sustainable Energy Laboratory at University College Dublin while studying abroad during his junior year and is the lead author on a paper published on his work there exploring scalable green hydrogen production. In Dublin, he also served as a Nanovic Sustainability Fellow through Notre Dame Global and completed an energy audit on the Notre Dame Dublin building, presenting recommendations to decrease its environmental footprint.

He served in the Notre Dame Student Government throughout his time at the University, most recently as director of sustainability. Schmitt also worked as a teaching assistant in the Department of Biological Sciences and a peer tutor for students in calculus and linear algebra.

One of Schmitt’s most impactful moments came during an ND Energy trip to Puerto Rico for a seminar on renewable energy last year. There, he had the opportunity to see firsthand the challenges of the island’s fragile electric grid and helped to install solar panels for vulnerable families. The experience led him to be a founding member of ND SunRISE, an organization that encourages students to engage with renewable energy through technical projects and professional development opportunities.

After graduation, Schmitt will spend eight weeks in Kenya, conducting research on carbon cycling in savanna grasslands with Sensenig. Afterward, he will begin a master’s program in urban sustainability at Trinity College Dublin as a Naughton Fellow, with a focus on energy access.

“My passion for sustainability and environmentalism is rooted in my upbringing on a family farm, but I had the opportunity to build upon it in so many ways at Notre Dame,” Schmitt said. “Notre Dame helped me put my passion for the environment into a social context and consider how environmental challenges like climate change impact people in really different ways. Because, often, the people who are most impacted are the ones who are most vulnerable.”

As salutatorian, Schmitt will be prepared to deliver a valedictory address should the valedictorian be unable to do so.

Clare Cullinan of South Bend, Indiana, has been named valedictorian of the 2025 University of Notre Dame graduating class.

The Notre Dame valedictorian and salutatorian selection process begins with each college or school nominating its top students among those with the highest grade point averages. Those students are then invited to complete an application that includes a draft of their commencement speech. A faculty selection committee, whose members are appointed by each college and school, is convened by the Office of Undergraduate Education in the Office of the Provost. This committee interviews selected finalists and chooses a valedictorian and salutatorian. The choices are approved by University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C.