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A full slate of celebrations and honors will highlight the accomplishments of students and faculty as UMass Medical School officially marks the start of a new academic year.
Convocation and Investiture ceremonies will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 9 beginning at 4 p.m. in the Albert Sherman Center Auditorium. Chancellor Michael F. Collins will deliver his annual Convocation address and bestow upon faculty the 2015 Chancellor’s Medals for excellence in teaching, scholarship, service and clinical excellence.
The Investiture ceremony, immediately following Convocation, will invest four distinguished faculty members as named chairs and honor them and the donors who endowed them . Faculty members being invested are:
- Katherine F. Ruiz de Luzuriaga, MD, professor of molecular medicine, pediatrics and medicine; vice provost for clinical and translational science and global health; and director of the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science, who will be invested as the UMass Memorial Health Care Chair in Biomedical Research;
- Gyongyi Szabo, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, vice chair for research in the Department of Medicine, associate dean for clinical and translational science and director of the MD/PhD Program, who will be invested as the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research Chair;
- Douglas T. Golenbock, MD, professor of medicine and microbiology & physiological systems and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine, who will be invested as the Pillar Chair in Biomedical Research; and
- Mary M. Lee, MD, professor and chair of pediatrics, professor of cell & developmental biology and physician-in-chief of the UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center, who will be invested as the Stoddard Chair of Pediatrics.
The new chairs bring to 41 the total of named professorships and chairs endowed at UMass Medical School. Precious and essential resources for the institution, endowments increase the institution’s ability to attract and retain individuals distinguished in their fields. Named professorships also provide an opportunity for donors to contribute to the enrichment and vitality of the academic and scientific environment.
The Graduate School of Nursing’s Pinning Ceremony for Graduate Entry Program (GEP) students will take place Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. in the Albert Sherman Center Auditorium. Now registered nurses after one year of accelerated coursework, GEP students will receive their registered nurse pins and recite a pledge to serve their communities and their profession. GEP students, who have bachelor’s degrees in fields other than nursing, will then complete further graduate study to become nurse practitioners, nurse educators and nursing executives. A reception in the ASC Cube will follow the ceremony.
Also on Tuesday, Sept. 8, John Paul Sanchez, MD, MPH, assistant dean for diversity and inclusion and assistant professor of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, will be the keynote speaker for the 4th Annual Convocation Welcome Luncheon for the LGBTA Community. RSVPs to Fernanda.gama@umassmed.edu are requested for the luncheon, which will take place in the Faculty Conference Room from 11:30 a. m. to 1 p.m.
The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences will host its recognition ceremony for students who have successfully completed the qualifying exam on Thursday, Sept. 10, at 3 p.m. in the Albert Sherman Center auditorium. Passing the qualifying exam is a significant milestone for PhD students, marking their transition from classroom-based learning to dissertation research as formal candidates for doctoral degrees. The ceremony in the Albert Sherman Center Auditorium will be followed by a reception in the ASC Cube.
Wrapping up Convocation Week activities will be the White Coat Ceremony on Friday, Sept. 11 at 3 p.m., in the multi-purpose room at the Albert Sherman Center. There in the presence of family, guests and faculty members, first-year School of Medicine students will be welcomed into the medical community by campus leaders, and presented with their first white coats, which have been donated by members of the recently graduated SOM Class of 2014. The keynote speech will be given by 2014 Chancellor’s Medal for Clinical Excellence recipient Karen Green, MD, professor of obstetrics & gynecology. A reception will follow in the Albert Sherman Center café.
Related links on UMassMedNow:
Golenbock, Lee appointed to endowed chairs
Luzuriaga, Szabo appointed to newly endowed chairs at UMMS
Amid NIH funding decline, Collins calls on campus to ‘Take a leap of faith with me’: Faculty awarded medals of distinction and endowed chairs, professorship at Convocation and Investiture
