Gerald Chan, Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, and Robert A. Harrington, MD, received honorary degrees at UMass Chan Medical School’s 53rd Commencement, held on Sunday, May 31.
Gerald Chan
Gerald Chan, co-founder of the investment firm Morningside, is responsible for the $175 million transformational gift to UMass Chan in 2021 that resulted in the renaming of the Medical School and its three graduate schools.
“He really cares if something makes something in the world better and that makes him want to invest,” said Stephanie O’Brien, counsel for Morningside.
Chan is also the chair of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, a trustee of the Scripps Research Institute and a member of the Dean’s Board of Advisors at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He has a master’s degree in medical radiological physics and a Doctor of Science degree in radiation biology from Harvard University.
Watch the video to learn about Chan’s background and passion for philanthropy.
“I hope that the graduates will go forth from UMass Chan with this spirit of service,” Chan said.
Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD
Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, former director of the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health, will serve as the first woman elected president of the National Academy of Medicine beginning in July.
“Smart, decisive, the right values—you couldn’t ask for a better successor,” Victor Dzau, MD, outgoing president of the National Academy of Medicine, said about the president-elect.
Dr. Bertagnolli has a Bachelor of Science in engineering from Princeton University; her medical degree is from the University of Utah.
The surgical oncologist and cancer researcher discussed her time growing up on her family’s ranch in rural Wyoming, the death of her grandmother from cancer and her own cancer diagnosis in the video below.
“What I’m most grateful for is the more than 300,000 women who participated in the clinical research that produced all of the care that I received,” Bertagnolli said.
Robert A. Harrington, MD
Robert A. Harrington, MD, is a cardiologist, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and provost for medical affairs of Cornell University. He is a Somerville native who started his internal medicine residency at UMass Chan 40 years ago after earning his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. He has worked in academic medicine for more than 35 years.
“I would say within 10 minutes of a phone conversation, I knew he was absolutely the right person [for Weill Cornell]: his combination of intellect, his amazing enthusiasm about the future of academic medicine, his ability to connect and relate to people,” said Jessica Bibliowicz, chair of the Board of Fellows for Weill Cornell Medicine.
Watch Dr. Harrington’s video to learn about his special relationship with Chancellor Michael F. Collins, who has been a mentor to Harrington since he was a student at the College of the Holy Cross.
“Getting an honorary degree from a place that I love, from a person that I love, is amazing,” Harrington said.
