Chef Stephen Durfee ’85 to Give 2026 Commencement Address

In addition to Durfee, an honorary degree will be presented to Maryam Banikarim, an Emmy Award-winning storyteller and host of The Messy Parts Podcast. She will offer the Baccalaureate address on Saturday, May 23, at 3 p.m., in the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House. 

“I’m certain our graduates and their families will be inspired by this year’s Baccalaureate and Commencement speakers,” said Hamilton President Steven Tepper. “Both have fashioned amazing careers built on creativity, originality, and the ability to recognize opportunity. Maryam Banikarim is a civic innovator, and Stephen Durfee is a culinary innovator. Both will help us see creativity in a new light. It will be an honor to present each of them with a Hamilton honorary degree.”

Stephen Durfee ’85

As director of chocolate curriculum at Dandelion Chocolate, Durfee collaborates with the education team to create exceptional chocolate programs and immersive experiences. Durfee, a longtime chef,  previously spent more than two decades as professor of baking and pastry arts at the Culinary Institute of America, at its Greystone campus in Napa Valley, teaching courses in chocolate, confectionery, cakes, and plated desserts.

Durfee is the former pastry chef of The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif. In 1998, he received the “Pastry Chef of the Year” award from the James Beard Foundation, and in 1999 was named one of the “!0 Best Pastry Chefs in America” by Pastry Art and Design and Chocolatier magazines. Durfee’s recipes appear regularly in cookbooks and magazines and he has authored numerous articles for Baking and Pastry magazine.

His six-part video series, “The Everyday Gourmet: Baking Pastries and Desserts”, produced by The Teaching Company, is featured as part of “The Great Courses” collection.  Durfee has competed in numerous individual and team pastry competitions, earning top honors in dessert tastings and chocolate showpieces. He received a bronze medal at the 2010 World Chocolate Masters National Selection. In 2012, he was chosen for the USA Pastry Team to compete at the prestigious Coupe de Monde de la Patisserie in Lyon. As the team’s chocolatier and plated-dessert specialist in the 2013 competition, Chef Durfee helped lead Team USA to a fourth-place finish.

In 2024 Durfee created the world’s largest s’more, measuring 49 square feet and weighing in at 396 pounds.  It was part of the Craft Chocolate Experience hosted by Dandelion Chocolate.

Maryam Banikarim

Maryam Banikarim is an Emmy Award-winning storyteller, and host of The Messy Parts Podcast, where she explores the real stories behind success—the setbacks, pivots, and hard-won victories that shape extraordinary careers. Banikarim has more than 25 years of experience leading growth and transformation for global organizations including Fortune Media, Nextdoor, Hyatt, Gannett, NBCUniversal, and Univision.

In 2024, Banikarim revitalized Fortune's Most Powerful Women and Brainstorm Tech communities. Since 2025, she’s chaired the WSJ Institute's CMO Council. In 2026, she officially co-founded The Interval—a startup peer community for senior executives navigating career transitions—a group that grew organically for the past 18 months.

Banikarim has built grassroots movements that spark connection and joy. She co-founded the non-profit NYCNext during the pandemic to rally artists and neighbors in support of New York and helped lead the WE NYC campaign, a citywide initiative to reignite pride and belonging. Today NYCNext's main focus is The Longest Table, a free potluck that’s grown to 50 across the U.S. in 2025.

She has delivered keynotes for Pfizer, Disney, Points of Light, Ally Financial, and Columbia Business School, and captured national attention with her TED Talk, "Life's an obstacle course—here's how to navigate it." Her achievements have been recognized among Fast Company's "Top 10 Disruptors," New York Post's "50 Most Powerful Women in NYC," and Advertising Age's "Women to Watch."

Banikarim holds degrees from Barnard College, Columbia Business School, and Columbia's School of International Affairs.