Milestones Achieved: 7,000 Spartans Graduate This Spring

Sammy the Spartan and SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson greeted the crowd at spring commencement. Photo: Robert C. Bain.

This spring, more than 7,000 San José State students earned their degrees, joining a tribe of Spartan alumni more than 350,000 strong. Over the course of 10 commencement ceremonies from May 21-23, graduates and their families crossed the stage at the Provident Credit Union Event Center at SJSU. 

“Graduates, this moment is a testament to your personal perseverance and to the extraordinary achievements of your entire class,” said SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson during the commencement ceremony for the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering. “During your time here, SJSU has reached new heights — we earned national recognition through prestigious awards, achieved outstanding rankings, and secured an R2 research designation. These accomplishments contribute to your future success as the value of your degree rises and as your legacy as Spartans endures.”

Honorary Doctorates

Two Spartans received honorary doctorates from San José State in recognition of their illustrious careers and service to the community.

William Borucki, ’82 MS Meteorology

SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson conferred an honorary doctorate of science to NASA space scientist William Borucki. Photo: Jim Gensheimer.

William Borucki was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science during the College of Science commencement ceremony on May 22. A NASA scientist based at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View from 1962 to 2015, Borucki began his tenure with the Hypersonic Free Flight Branch, conducting crucial research on heat shield materials for the Apollo missions to the moon. 

In 1984, Borucki became a key advocate for the development of a space mission aimed at detecting Earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of sun-like stars.In 2001, he took on the role of principal investigator for the Kepler mission, which ultimately discovered over 4,000 candidate planets within four years. His groundbreaking contributions to space science have earned him numerous prestigious accolades, including the 2015 Drake Award from the SETI Institute, the 2015 Shaw Prize in Astronomy, the 2013 NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, the 2011 Ames Honor Award for Outstanding Scientist or Researcher and the 1969 NASA Apollo Achievement Award, among others.

Constance B. Moore, ’77 Business Administration

Constance B. Moore, ’77 Business Administration, received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at the commencement ceremony for the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business on May 23.

Constance Moore (center) received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. Photo: Jim Gensheimer.

Moore launched her career in real estate at BRE Properties six months before graduating from San José State. A UC Berkeley Haas School of Business MBA graduate, Moore dedicated 40 years to real estate organizations before serving as CEO and president of BRE Properties from 2005-2014. A first-generation college student, Moore has served on the San José State University Tower Foundation Board; the Board of Directors of the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley; and trustee and governor of the Urban Land Institute, among other roles. The San Francisco Business Times named her one of the most influential women in the San Francisco business community, and in 2010 the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business at San José State awarded her the Distinguished Alumna Award.

Outstanding Senior Award Recipients

Shambhavi Siosdiya, ’25 Business Administration

Shambhavi Siosdiya (center) was awarded the Outstanding Senior award. Photo: Grace Austin, ’26 BFA Photography.

While pursuing a degree in business administration with a concentration in management, Outstanding Senior Award Recipient Shambhavi Siosdiya has also completed a minor in engineering and served in a leadership role on the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business Interorganizational Leadership Advancement Committee (LILAC). Her efforts as president of Queer & Asian @SJSU, senior vice chair of public relations for Out in STEM (oSTEM), committee chair of the Associated Students’ Multicultural Advisory Committee, as well as her work as a Peers in PRIDE mentor and Adobe Student Ambassador, have helped shape inclusive student experiences. Priya Kannan, dean of the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business, says that Sisodiya’s work has “had a ripple effect across departments, from business to engineering to the PRIDE Center, reflecting her rare and valuable ability to build bridges and foster belonging at scale.”

Anoushka Lakshmi, ’25 Biomedical Engineering

Anoushka Lakshmi (center) accepted the Outstanding Senior Award at commencement. Photo: Jim Gensheimer.

Outstanding Senior Award Recipient Anoushka Lakshmi is passionate about the intersection of medicine and engineering. During her undergraduate studies, she became a certified nursing assistant and emergency medical technician, while contributing to research at San José State University’s Surface Science Center Laboratory, the Loeb Lab at UCSF, and a vascular surgery lab at Stanford, culminating in a publication in the Journal of Vascular Medicine.

She graduated summa cum laude and has been recognized as a five-time President’s Scholar for maintaining a 4.0 GPA. Her accolades also include the President’s Volunteer Service Award, the R&I Student RSCA Fellowship Grant, the Davidson Student Scholarship, and First Place in the Physical and Mathematical Sciences category at the CSU Research Competition.

Lakshmi has represented SJSU nationally through internships at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and at local biotech startup NeuroLeap. She has also led student teams in the SpartUp startup incubator and the BMEidea club to develop innovative medical devices. She aspires to advance healthcare by creating new technologies and expanding clinical practices.

Outstanding Thesis Award

Noam Smilovich, ’24 MS Software Engineering

Noam Smilovich, ’24 MS Software Engineering, is receiving the Outstanding Thesis Award for his thesis ”Data-Driven Control of Acoustic Waves Using Movable and Flexible Scatterers.” Described by Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Feruza Amirkulova as a “significant interdisciplinary contribution, blending principles of mechanical engineering, control theory and machine learning to advance the field of robotic manipulation in wave dynamics,” Smilovich’s research has culminated in a publication accepted at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), the premier conference in robotics and artificial intelligence. His work helped develop a novel physics-informed machine learning approach for controlling wave propagation through sparse actuators, extending classical robotic manipulation to a new domain — acoustic wave control — with broad implications for artificial materials, ultrasonic tools and energy harvesting applications. In addition to his research, Smilovich mentors high school, community college and undergraduate students at SJSU.