Talladega College, Alabama’s oldest private historically black liberal arts institution of higher learning, will celebrate its milestone 150th Commencement Exercises at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 4, 2025 in the Student Activity Center Arena. Emmy Award-winning actress S. Epatha Merkerson will deliver the commencement address.
About S. Epatha Merkerson
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Merkerson has won critical acclaim for her work in theatre, television and film. She is best known for her 17-season run as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on NBC’s “Law & Order” for which she won three NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama. Merkerson is currently playing hospital administrator Sharon Goodwin on “Chicago Med,” now in its 10th season on NBC.
It was Merkerson’s role as Rachel “Nanny” Crosby in the HBO film “Lackawanna Blues” that earned her Emmy, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, Gracie Allen, and NAACP Image awards. Merkerson’s film credits also include: “Radio,” which garnered her a Cammie Award, Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” “Black Snake Moan,” “Terminator II: Judgement Day,” “Loose Cannons” with the late Gene Hackman, “Navy SEALs,” and more.
Among Merkerson’s theatre credits include “Come Back Little Sheba” and August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. She earned an Obie Award for her work in “I’m Not Stupid” and a Helen Hayes Award for “The Old Settler.” Merkerson also directed the show “Conversations with Mary Lou Williams,” a collaboration with the late composer-pianist Geri Allen, author and professor Farah Jasmine Griffin as well as jazz vocalist Carmen Lundy. “Conversations” premiered at The Gatehouse at Harlem Stage in 2014 and moved to the Kennedy Center for performances at The Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival.
Merkerson holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre performance from Wayne State University. She has been awarded with honorary doctorates from her alma mater, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Montclair State University, and The University of Pittsburgh.
