Max Levchin, the computer scientist who co-founded PayPal and Yelp, will return to the University of Illinois May 12th, to be the Urbana campus’s commencement speaker.

The "Parks and Recreation" actor remembers fondly his time on the University of Illinois Urbana campus. He will speak to 2017 graduates Saturday at Memorial Stadium on the Urbana-Champaign campus.

Actor and alumnus Nick Offerman will be the commencement speaker for the University of Illinois' Urbana campus on May 13. The selection was confirmed late Tuesday afternoon with a short video of Offerman posted to the U of I's Facebook page. In the video, Offerman took on the mannerisms of Ron Swanson, the character he played on the TV show "Parks and Recreation." 

150 years ago, on February 28, 1867, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation creating the Illinois Industrial University, or as we now know it, the University of Illinois. 

The university is celebrating the anniversary of that event on Tuesday, as it launches Sesquicentennial events that will go on for more than a year.

The celebrating begins at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the U of I’s Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana.