CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Matt Damon shot to fame in the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting as a gifted janitor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Now, he has been selected to deliver the university’s 2016 commencement address.
MIT announced Thursday that the Academy Award-winning actor, filmmaker, social activist and Cambridge native will address graduates on June 3.
Damon said in a statement that it’s an honor to be named commencement speaker “at a school that I couldn’t have gotten into.”
MIT president L. Rafael Reif says Damon has “made us think about our world in new ways, and through his service, he has made it a better place.”
Anish Punjabi, president of MIT’s Class of 2016, says the actor is an inspiration to students who teaches that the world needs more well-rounded leaders.
