Founders' Day

Honor the past, celebrate the present and invent the future.

Thank you for celebrating Founders' Day 2026

In front of a packed crowd of more than 700 community leaders, business executives, alumni, faculty and staff, the 2026 Founders’ Day honored ASU alumni, faculty members and benefactors for their distinguished achievements.

The 2026 Founders’ Day celebrated honorees who exemplify the spirit of ASU’s founders and the ASU Charter. Among them were biomedical business leaders, a driven entrepreneur and former Sun Devil Women’s Tennis standout, an acclaimed professor with expertise in leadership and management, a dedicated ASU clinical faculty member and leader in the speech-language pathology community, a pioneering researcher of biological computation and a visionary philanthropist with a passion for business education.

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Founders'Day2026.jpg — A sold-out crowd of more than
700 alumni, community members, business leaders, ASU executives and supporters of the university celebrating Founders' Day 2026 at the Omni Tempe Hotel at ASU.

2026 Founders' Day honorees

Founders' Day, a rich tradition

Arizona State University is proud to celebrate Founders' Day, commemorating the first day of classroom instruction at the original Territorial Normal School in Tempe in 1886. Founders' Day is ASU’s signature event honoring the changemakers whose pioneering achievements and visionary philanthropy have shaped ASU’s spirit of excellence and innovation. It's a time to learn more about the breakthrough research, philanthropy and community work that is driving the future of ASU and the world, to honor the university's growth from humble beginnings to the model of a New American University. Every year, we celebrate some of the ASU alumni, faculty and staff who have contributed to this success.

About Founders' Day

Arizona State University annually celebrates the vision and contributions of the institution's founders. A tradition known as Founders' Day, this signature event has taken place since 1964. ASU faculty, staff, alumni and advocates who exemplify the pioneering and innovative spirit of ASU’s founders are honored with excellence-in-achievement awards at the event.

Founders’ Day is celebrated each year in February or March, commemorating the first day of classroom instruction at the original Territorial Normal School in Tempe on Feb. 8, 1886. Founding President Hiram Bradford Farmer greeted thirty-one students on that first day of classes. Now, we honor our founders — Territorial Representative John Samuel Armstrong and the members of the first Board of Education; Professor Farmer, Board President Charles Trumbull Hayden, Joseph Campbell, T. J. Butler, A. C. Baker and H. L. Long.

Today, Arizona State University is a leading public research university and an internationally prestigious higher education institution recognized by leading rankings publications and services. ASU launched the groundbreaking prototype of the New American University in 2002, and the ultimate journey from a simple schoolhouse to a world-class institution is a testament to the vision, tenacity and hard work of its founders, leaders, faculty, students and alumni through the years. Founders’ Day is a celebration of this founding spirit.