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While most members of the UMass Medical School community are thinking about summer vacations at this time of year, others are in full planning mode for the many events that will mark the beginning of the academic year in September. A full week of Convocation activities, including five major events, starts on Tuesday, Sept. 13, and wraps up on Friday, Sept. 16.
Convocation, the centerpiece of the week’s events, will be held on Thursday, Sept. 15, beginning at 10 a.m. on the campus green. The event symbolically marks the opening of a new academic year and is a tradition at many college campuses across the country.
Graduate School of Nursing’s Graduate Entry Pathway Pinning Ceremony
In the presence of family, guests and faculty members, students in the Graduate Entry Pathway (GEP) program will be ceremonially presented with their nursing pins and welcomed into the nursing community on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 6 p.m. in the Faculty Conference Room.
The GEP program, for individuals with baccalaureate degrees in fields other than nursing, leads first to registered nurse licensure after a full year of courses, and then to advanced nursing practice specialties. The pinning ceremony symbolizes successful completion of the courses and clinical experiences required for taking the licensure exam.
Dinner and Dialogue
The student-centered “Dinner and Dialogue” takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 5 p.m. in the Faculty Conference Room. The event is an opportunity for students from all three schools to get together for dinner and a discussion inspired by the Summer Read book The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, PhD, who will be a guest speaker at Convocation.
Presenting at the discussion will be Craig Ceol, PhD, assistant professor of molecular medicine, and Michael R. Green, MD, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Lambi and Sarah Adams Chair in Genetic Research and professor of molecular medicine and biochemistry & molecular pharmacology. Alan G. Rosmarin, MD, the Gladys Smith Martin Chair in Oncology and professor of medicine, will moderate.
Convocation
During his Convocation address on Thursday, Sept. 15, at 10 a.m., Chancellor Michael F. Collins will officially launch the new academic year and announce the recipients of the Chancellor’s Medals for distinguished teaching, distinguished scholarship and distinguished service.
Following the address, Dr. Mukherjee, will join Charles L. Sawyers, MD, for the keynote presentation. Mukherjee is a cancer physician and researcher at Columbia University and the Columbia University/NYU Presbyterian Hospital. He won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for The Emperor of All Maladies, a history of cancer framed as a biography. Dr. Sawyers, chair of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, was crucial in the creation of Gleevec, a unique and extremely effective treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia, for which he and two colleagues won the 2009 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award.
Investiture
Also on Thursday, Sept. 15, at 5 p.m., several distinguished faculty members will become named professors at the annual Investiture ceremony, a celebration of philanthropic partnerships that provide essential funding for research and education.
Melissa J. Moore, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology, will be invested as the Eleanor Eustis Farrington Chair in Cancer Research. Julia D. Andrieni, MD, professor of medicine, will be named the Joy McCann Professor for Women in Medicine.
White Coat Ceremony
Capping the week’s events is the White Coat Ceremony, where, in the presence of family, guests and faculty members, incoming School of Medicine students will be welcomed into the medical community by campus leaders and ceremonially presented with their white coats. The event will take place on Friday, Sept. 16, at 3:30 p.m. The keynote address will be given by Darrell G. Kirch, MD, president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Look for invitations to the events, as well as an informational website, in early August.
