Award-winning journalist Katie Couric will deliver the address as UMass Chan Medical School celebrates its 50th Commencement and the Classes of 2023 on Sunday, June 4.
Degrees will be awarded to 287 students by the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing and the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
Couric, former host of NBC’s Today show and co-founder of cancer research charity Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) will be awarded an honorary degree.
Honorary degrees will also be awarded to Tania Issa Semaan, chair of Blu Stone Management Ltd, a Dubai-based investment firm, and co-founder and director of The Semaan Foundation, a philanthropic organization supporting efforts in the fields of education, health care and social welfare; and Luke O’Neill, PhD, chair and professor of biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin.
Several events in the days leading up to Commencement will honor outstanding faculty and students and celebrate the accomplishments of graduating students.
On Thursday, June 1, the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences will host the 14th annual Student Academic Achievement Awards ceremony at 3 p.m. in the Albert Sherman Center auditorium. The ceremony will be followed by a reception in the atrium outside the Albert Sherman Center Cube. The event will be livestreamed on YouTube.
Also on Thursday, the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing will host its awards and scholarship presentations at 5:30 p.m. in the Albert Sherman Center auditorium, with a livestream on YouTube. A reception will follow in the Sherman Center multipurpose room.
On Friday, June 2, the T.H. Chan School of Medicine Alumni Association will host and livestream its annual breakfast at 9 a.m. in the Sherman Center multipurpose room. Outstanding medical educator awards will be presented, and the members of the Class of 2023 will be welcomed as alumni.
Also on Friday, the UMass Chan chapter of White Coats for Black Lives and the Diversity and Inclusion Office will hold its inaugural Deborah Harmon Hines, PhD, Commencement Celebration in honor of Deborah Harmon Hines, PhD, retired vice provost for school services and professor of radiology and nursing. Dr. Hines is credited with developing and nurturing of the Medical School’s renowned pipeline programs, including the Worcester Pipeline Collaborative. Graduating students of color from all three schools will be recognized and presented with Kente and multicultural stoles to wear at Commencement. The event is open to all graduating students at 5 p.m. in the Cube of the Albert Sherman Center. Attendees need to pre-register.
Commencement 2023 will take place on Sunday, June 4, under a tent on the campus green in front of the Lazare Research Building. Guest seating will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the processional starting at 11:35 a.m. The ceremony will begin promptly at noon.
Class speakers include Sean Boyden for the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, Kathleen Morrill for the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Amanda Hazeltine for the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing.
Proceedings will be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube. Highlights and photos of the week’s events will be posted on the UMass Chan news page.
