Outstanding members of UMass Lowell’s Class of 2026 who will address their fellow classmates at Commencement exercises on Friday, May 15 and Saturday, May 16, recently reflected on their university experience ahead of receiving their diplomas.

This weekend, UMass Lowell will graduate 4,250 students who hail from 47 states and 97 countries. There are 243 students in the Class of 2026 who have attained a 4.0 GPA in their academic studies and 878 students who are the first in their families to attain a college degree.

Through their academic achievements, service to others and unique personal stories, these local grads exemplify the best of UMass Lowell.

Yasie Nejad

Yasie Nejad, Salem, N.H.

UMass Lowell master’s and doctoral candidates receiving their degrees on Friday, May 15 at the Tsongas Center will hear from Commencement student speaker Yasie Nejad of Salem, N.H. Nejad will be awarded her master’s degree of public health in dietetics alongside her classmates after having earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at the university in 2020.

Nejad wants to become a registered dietician before going on to medical school. Her UMass Lowell education helped her identify her goal to pursue a career at the intersection of nutrition and medicine.

“During my undergraduate experience, I found incredible mentors, developed meaningful relationships and was able to experience opportunities that pushed me both personally and professionally. By the time I began considering graduate programs, I honestly could not picture myself anywhere else,” she said.

Beyond her coursework, she has served as a graduate research assistant for Project EATT, a UMass Lowell pilot study that provides healthy meal kits and nutrition education to qualifying Merrimack Valley residents. In this role, she has led recruitment and community outreach efforts across Greater Lowell and Lawrence and helped develop a mobile app that delivers nutrition education to participants.

Her experience spans community and clinical settings, including her work at Boston Children’s Hospital and Community Servings, in Jamaica Plain, where she led the redevelopment of a nutrition curriculum now taught to medical students and residents. Across these experiences, and others she pursued while a student, she has worked to make nutrition a more accessible and integral part of patient care.

“One of the most valuable parts of my experience has been learning how interconnected health care is. Through my work in nutrition, public health and clinical settings, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside researchers, physicians, dieticians and community organizations. That collaboration completely changed the way I think about patient care and community health,” she said.

Nejad is also a recipient of the UMass Lowell Chancellor’s Medal for Community Service, in recognition of her leadership and impact within the community. She was also named the 2026 Outstanding Dietetics Student award from the Massachusetts Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Madelyn Archambault

Madelyn Archambault, Dracut

UMass Lowell bachelor’s candidates in the Francis College of Engineering, Kennedy College of Sciences and Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences receiving their degrees on the morning of Saturday, May 16, will hear from classmate and Commencement student speaker Madelyn Archambault of Dracut.

During the ceremony, Archambault will receive her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, after having completed a senior capstone project in which she built a plasma reactor that valorizes plastic. This process reduces plastic waste, lessens the carbon footprint of manufacturing and reduces the prevalence of petrochemicals.

Growing up in Dracut, a stone’s throw from UMass Lowell, the university was not originally her first choice in a school. However, meeting people on campus and the chance to get involved in research won her over, she said.

“One of the big draws for me was learning independence,” she said of her decision to live on campus.

She made the most of the opportunity. Archambault is a recipient of the UMass Lowell Chancellor’s Medal for Student Service, which honors her service to the campus community. Among her many roles, she served as an orientation leader, a well-being leader, a resident advisor and was active in the university’s Research Academics and Mentoring Pathways Program (RAMP). The initiative is a summer jumpstart program for incoming engineering students looking to build their skills and make connections before classes start.

Of her time as an orientation leader, she said: “The most fulfilling interactions were always with the students who at the beginning struggled to engage. It was always rewarding to watch them come out of their shell and smile. I got to help people get over the same nerves I faced when coming here.”

Archambault also gained paid experience putting her education to the test as a member of the quality assurance team at Resin Systems Corp. in Amherst, N.H. during semester break in her sophomore year. The company produces custom liquid resin castings, which are vital to a variety of industries.

Archambault’s journey will continue at UMass Lowell in the fall, as she pursues her master’s degree in mechanical engineering with a concentration in manufacturing and design. She hopes to also pursue master’s in business administration degree and is planning a career in manufacturing.

Nokomis Bramantecohen

Nokomis Bramantecohen, Wilmington

Commencement student speaker Nokomis Bramantecohen of Wilmington, will address UMass Lowell bachelor’s candidates in the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the Manning School of Business receiving their degrees on the afternoon of Saturday, May 16. She will receive her bachelor’s degree in psychology during the ceremony.

A member of the university’s Honors College, Bramantecohen has completed her degree with a River Hawk Experience Distinction in community engagement. To earn that honor, she integrated her academic studies with volunteer and paid extracurricular experiences throughout Greater Lowell. These included volunteering in support of the city of Lowell’s tree census and a paid job at Girls Inc., leading group activities, building trust, helping with homework and fostering a sense of belonging among the fourth-grade girls in the program.

A recipient of a UMass Lowell Chancellor’s Medal for Student Service, she made the most of her time at the university. From early on, she immersed herself within campus life by serving as an orientation leader, a well-being leader, a mentor for the university’s Asian American Centers for Excellence and Engagement, and an executive board member, treasurer and captain of the university’s club field hockey team.

She also applied her studies and interest in improving the quality of life for children while working as a research assistant in the Health Advancement and Resilience in Pediatrics (HARP) laboratory at UMass Lowell. Through this work, she met with children ages eight to 11, to assess their lung health and study the connection between their emotional and physical well-being.

This role requires collaboration within families, researchers and community partners to ensure ethical, safe and inclusive research practices. This experience has deepened my understanding of how systemic factors shape childhood development,” she said.

Bramantecohen came to UMass Lowell as a commuter student, studied in Italy for a semester, then returned to Lowell to finish her undergraduate career while living in a university residence hall.

“A big part of it was the affordability and the location. I really liked the diversity aspect of campus,” she said of her decision to enroll. “The UMass Lowell experience gave me a lot of connections with others – peers, classmates, friends, professors, mentors and advisors.”

Bramantecohen will pursue a master’s degree in social work and a career in higher education.