Photo: John Gillooly
As the UMass Chan Medical School community prepares to celebrate the Classes of 2026 at Commencement on Sunday, May 31, members will gather for award ceremonies that honor faculty and graduating students.
On Thursday, May 28, the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences will host its 17th annual Student Academic Achievement and Leadership Awards ceremony at 3 p.m. in the Albert Sherman Center Cube.
On Friday, May 29, the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing will host its awards and scholarship presentations at noon in the Faculty Conference Room in the Medical School building.
Also on Friday, the T.H. Chan School of Medicine Alumni Association will host its annual awards ceremony at 9 a.m. in the Sherman Center multipurpose room. Student and outstanding medical educator awards will be presented, and the members of the Class of 2026 will be welcomed as alumni.
Also on Friday, the Diversity and Inclusion Office and the Inclusive Excellence Student Council will hold its annual Deborah Harmon Hines, PhD, Commencement Celebration in honor of Deborah Harmon Hines, PhD, retired vice provost for school services and professor emeritus of radiology and nursing. Dr. Hines developed and nurtured the Medical School’s renowned pipeline programs, including the Worcester Pipeline Collaborative. Graduating students from communities that have historically faced systemic barriers in science and health care careers from all three schools will be recognized. The event, which is open to all graduating students and families, faculty and staff, takes place at 6 p.m. in the Sherman Center Cube.
On Sunday, May 31, Gerald Chan, venture capitalist, scientist and philanthropist responsible for the 2021 $175 million transformational gift to UMass Chan, will deliver the Commencement address as UMass Chan celebrates its 53rd Commencement.
Chan will receive an honorary degree, as will Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, incoming president of the National Academy of Medicine; and Robert A. Harrington, MD, dean of Weill Cornell Medicine.
Class speakers include Suhas Suddala for the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, Humberto Ochoa for the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and William “Bill” Mar, RN, MSN, for the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing. Academic degrees will be awarded to more than 300 students.
Commencement will take place under a tent on the campus green in front of the Paul J. DiMare Center. Guest seating will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the processional starting at 11:45 a.m. The ceremony will begin promptly at noon and will be livestreamed on YouTube.
Highlights and photos of the week’s events will be posted on the UMass Chan news page.
