A familiar and beloved tradition returns to campus as UMass Chan Medical School celebrates the accomplishments of the Class of 2022 at the 49th Commencement Exercises on Sunday, June 5.
Degrees will be awarded to 281 students by the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing and the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
Honorary degree recipient Cori Bargmann, PhD, head of science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, head of the Lulu and Anthony Wang Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behavior, and the Torsten N. Wiesel Professor at The Rockefeller University, will deliver the commencement address.
Honorary degrees will also be awarded to Paula A. Johnson, MD, MPH, president of Wellesley College and a preeminent cardiologist, scientist and educator; and James O’Connell, MD, MTheol, president of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, where his commitment to caring for homeless individuals earned him a reputation as the city’s “street doctor.”
Several events in the days leading up to Commencement will honor outstanding faculty and students and celebrate graduates’ accomplishments.
On Thursday, June 2, the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences will host the 13th 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 p.m. in the Albert Sherman Center auditorium, with a livestream on YouTube. New this year will be the school’s inaugural Nursing White Coat Ceremony. 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 2022 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 a ceremony at which graduating students of color will be presented with Kente and multicultural stoles to wear at Commencement. The event is open to all graduating students at 6 p.m. in the Cube of the Albert Sherman Center. Dinner will precede the program.
And finally, Commencement 2022 will take place on Sunday, June 5, under a tent on the campus green in front of the Lazare Research Building. Guest seating will begin at 10:45 a.m. with the processional starting at 11:45 a.m. The ceremony will begin promptly at noon.
Proceedings will be broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube. Highlights and photos of all the events will be posted on the UMass Chan news page.
Related UMass Chan news stories:
Vibrant stoles at Commencement to honor accomplishments of students of color
Chancellor Collins to Class of 2021: ‘You are scientists, nurses and doctors at their best’
