Education

Joe Biden to deliver remarks alongside portrait unveiling at alma mater Syracuse University

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by Max Rego - 04/13/26 10:16 PM ET

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by Max Rego - 04/13/26 10:16 PM ET

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Former President Biden will deliver remarks on Tuesday at his law school alma mater, Syracuse University, at an unveiling of his portrait at the New York college.

Biden received his juris doctor from the Syracuse College of Law in 1968, five years before he was first elected to the Senate. He received an honorary degree from the university in 2009, after he was sworn in as vice president.

Syracuse announced in February that a portrait of Biden would be unveiled in Dineen Hall during a private ceremony. The oil-on-canvas artwork was commissioned by portrait artist Michael Shane Neal, whose works are in the U.S. Capitol, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Pentagon, according to Syracuse.

The portrait will be on permanent display in the law school’s Law Library Reading Room, and the public can view it during normal library hours, the university release noted.

“Syracuse Law is proud to count a former president among our many outstanding alumni,” Terence J. Lau, the dean of the law school, said in February. “President Biden has never forgotten where his legal career began, and we have never forgotten him. His portrait in Dineen Hall will remind every student who passes through our doors that a Syracuse Law education doesn’t just open doors. It can change the course of history.”

Biden, an undergraduate alum of the University of Delaware, delivered the commencement address at his law school in 1994, 2002, 2006 and 2016. He also delivered the university-wide commencement address in 2009, when he received his honorary degree.

Biden last visited the university in 2024 to formally award $6 billion in federal funding to semiconductor company Micron, according to WSYR-TV in Syracuse.

The former president, who is battling stage four prostate cancer, has spoken publicly sparingly since departing office in January 2025. During the late Rev. Jesse Jackson’s funeral last month, Biden said that the Trump administration “doesn’t share any of the values that we have.”

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