PLEASE NOTE Media are welcome to cover these events, which are open to graduates and their families and friends only, not the general public. Media are asked to remain in the audience area.
MONDAY, MAY 8:
UA College of Medicine – Phoenix Commencement
(“Celebrating 10 years of progress, compassion and innovation”)
3 to 5 p.m.
Symphony Hall, 75 N. Second St., Phoenix
(Procession from the College to Symphony Hall begins 3 p.m.)
Media contact: April Fischer, 602-827-2595, aprilfischer@email.arizona.edu
The UA College of Medicine – Phoenix Class of 2017 includes 81 graduates: 42 women and 39 men. Twenty will go into primary care (family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics); nearly one third will pursue residencies in Arizona. Fifty-one students will train outside of Arizona, including distinguished programs at Stanford University, Duke University Medical Center, Yale-New Haven Hospital, Emory University School of Medicine, Baylor, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and UCLA Medical Center.
Keynote speaker will be Mitchell Shub, MD, chair of the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix Department of Child Health and pediatric gastroenterologist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Inspirational 2017 UA College of Medicine – Phoenix graduates include Tabarik Al-Abbadi (who will pursue a residency in internal medicine at Maricopa Medical Center), Ken Zurcher (who will pursue a preliminary residency in general surgery at the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix followed by a residency in diagnostic radiology at the Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education) and Akua Minta (who will pursue a residency in family medicine at the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix).Their profiles are available on the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix website at http://phoenixmed.arizona.edu/currentstudents/milestones/matchday under “2017 MATCH DAY PROFILES.”
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10:
Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs and UA College of Medicine – Tucson Biomedical Sciences Convocation
6 p.m.
Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, DuVal Auditorium
1501 N. Campbell Ave., Tucson
(Reception follows at about 7:30 p.m. on the plaza outside the hospital.)
Media contact: Jean Spinelli, 520-626-2531, jspinell@email.arizona.edu
This 12th annual ceremony honors 2016-2017 graduates receiving doctoral and master’s degrees from graduate programs in the biological and biomedical sciences offered by the UA Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs (GIDP) and the UA College of Medicine – Tucson.
The invited speaker is Jennifer K. Barton, PhD, UA professor of biomedical engineering and interim director of the UA BIO5 Institute.
Students receive a traditional “hooding” to mark the years of extraordinary effort and determination in pursuit of their graduate degrees.
The graduate programs of the UA College of Medicine – Tucson Departments of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Immunobiology and Pharmacology, and Clinical Translational Sciences will participate.
UA GIDPs participating in this year’s convocation are Applied Biosciences, Arid Lands Resource Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Cancer Biology, Entomology and Insect Science, Genetics, Neuroscience, Physiological Sciences and Statistics.
The GIDPs transcend departmental boundaries by facilitating interdisciplinary research and education, allowing the fusion of ideas, techniques and expertise from the traditional academic fields that provide for the evolution of modern and imaginative methods of research, and the creation of new fields of endeavor.
Inspiring GIDP graduates include Jesse Trujillo, the first Navajo to earn a doctorate in cancer biology; his profile is available on the UAHS Office of Public Affairs website at “UA Health Sciences Convocations 2017: Meet Some of the Graduates”
THURSDAY, MAY 11:
UA College of Nursing Convocation
(“Celebrating 60 years of building better futures”)
2 to 4 p.m.
Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd.
UA Main Campus, Tucson
Media contact: Jason Gelt, 520-626-6154, jasongelt@email.arizona.edu
Graduates will receive baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees in nursing, and faculty awards will be presented. The College will award 55 baccalaureate (Bachelor of Science in Nursing), 46 graduate (Master of Science in Nursing Clinical Systems Leadership), three PhD (Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing) and 40 DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) degrees.
Established in 1957, the UA College of Nursing is among the nation’s top nursing schools. The College is recognized for excellence in educating entry and advanced practice nurse leaders to deliver comprehensive, coordinated and compassionate health care; shape health policy for individuals, families, communities and care systems; and advance nursing science through innovative research, technology and collaboration.
Inspirational 2017 UA College of Nursing graduates include Milena Angelica Carrera (Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Honors student); her profile is available on the UAHS Office of Public Affairs website at “UA Health Sciences Convocations 2017: Meet Some of the Graduates”
UA College of Medicine – Tucson Convocation: Doctors of Medicine
(“Celebrating 50 years of innovation”)
7 to 9 p.m.
Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd.
UA Main Campus, Tucson
(Light reception follows on the lawn of the Arizona State Museum across from Centennial Hall.)
This event also will be broadcast live and archived on the Internet at http://streaming.biocom.arizona.edu
Media contact: UA Health Sciences Office of Public Affairs, 520-626-7301, public@email.arizona.edu
The ceremony includes, in order: Procession of graduates into Centennial Hall; welcome remarks by Charles Cairns, MD, dean; remarks by Joy Bunt, MD, PhD, Class of 1994 and 2016 Alumni of the Year; remarks by Elaine Drobny, MD, Class of 1977 and alumni board president; class speaker address; remarks by Volker K.H. Sonntag, MD, 50th anniversary speaker; keynote address by Robert Califf, MD, MACC; hooding; recitation of the Hippocratic Oath; closing; recessional; reception.
The UA College of Medicine – Tucson Class of 2017 includes 99 graduates: 56 women and 43 men.
Two graduates will receive dual MD-MPH degrees (the MD-MPH Program is offered jointly by the Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix and the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health); two graduates will receive dual MD-MBA degrees (the MD-MBA Program is offered jointly by the Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix and the UA Eller College of Management).
Nearly half of the graduates will go into primary care (family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics). Nearly a third will pursue residencies in Arizona.
Keynote speaker will be Robert Califf, MD, MACC, the recent commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Califf’s address is titled, “Technology Improves, but People Never Change, or do They?....” Dr. Califf is the Donald F. Fortin, M.D. Professor of Cardiology in the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C. He was the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from February 2016 to January 2017 and Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco at the FDA from February 2015 until his appointment as commissioner. His leadership has improved methods and infrastructure for clinical research.
In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the college in 1967, Volker K.H. Sonntag, MD, student president of the college’s first graduating class, the Class of 1971, will speak. Dr. Sonntag came to the U.S. as an immigrant and worked his way through medical school. He is an internationally renowned neurosurgeon and served as president of the AANS Professional Conduct Committee, the North American Spine Society and American Academy of Neurological Surgery, in addition to having made significant contributions to the treatment and understanding of spinal disorders. Dr. Sonntag’s address is titled “Courage to Care.”
Class speaker will be medical student Srishti Nayak, who will pursue a residency in pediatrics at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital in California.
Charles Cairns, MD, FACEP, FAHA, dean of the UA College of Medicine – Tucson and assistant vice president for clinical research and clinical trials at the Arizona Health Sciences Center, will lead the graduating students in reciting the Hippocratic Oath.
Inspirational 2017 UA College of Medicine – Tucson graduates include Tom Lotina, 52, (family medicine residency); his profile is available on the UAHS Office of Public Affairs website at “UA Health Sciences Convocations 2017: Meet Some of the Graduates”
FRIDAY, MAY 12:
UA College of Pharmacy Convocation
(“Celebrating 70 years of leading, innovating and achieving”)
9 a.m.
Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd.
UA Main Campus, Tucson
(Reception follows at about 10:30 a.m. on the plaza in front of Centennial Hall.)
This event also will be broadcast live and archived on the Internet at http://streaming.biocom.arizona.edu
Media contact: Alli Benjamin, 520-626-3389, abenjamin@pharmacy.arizona.edu
PharmD and PhD graduates of the College—currently rated as one of the top twenty in the nation among colleges of pharmacy in America’s Best Graduate Schools compiled by U.S. News and World Report—will be hooded.
Established in 1947, the College of Pharmacy was the first health sciences college at the University of Arizona. Now celebrating its 70thanniversary in 2017, the College continues to prepare pharmacists in the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program and the PhD program, along with post-doctoral residency and fellowship training programs. The College participates in many interprofessional and multi-institutional educational and research collaborations throughout Arizona and globally. It is routinely among the top third of colleges of pharmacy in terms of external funding for research, including funding from the National Institutes of Health.
Inspirational 2017 UA College of Pharmacy graduates include Garrett Berger, Stephanie Lawson, Kelsey Royball and Cassandra Votruba (Pharm D), and Kenneth Leutz (PharmD); their profiles are available on the UAHS Office of Public Affairs website at “UA Health Sciences Convocations 2017: Meet Some of the Graduates”
UA College of Medicine – Tucson Convocation: undergraduates, Department of Physiology, Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences degree with a major in physiology
2 p.m. to 4 p.m. (reception follows)
UA Student Union Memorial Center, Grand Ballroom, 1303 E. University Blvd.
UA Main Campus, Tucson
Media contact: UA Health Sciences Office of Public Affairs, 520-626-7301, public@email.arizona.edu
Graduating seniors receiving the Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences degree with a major in physiology will be recognized. Various awards will be presented. Reception follows.
Inspirational 2017 UA College of Medicine – Tucson Department of Physiology graduates include Albert Alan (Bachelor of Science in health sciences with a major in physiology, Bachelor of Science in neuroscience and cognitive science, and Bachelor of Arts in sociology; Robert Logan Nugent Award winner); his profile is available on the UAHS Office of Public Affairs website at “UA Health Sciences Convocations 2017: Meet Some of the Graduates”
SATURDAY, MAY 13:
UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health Convocation
(“Celebrating 17 years of promoting the health of individuals and communities, locally, nationally and globally”)
9 to 11 a.m.
Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd.
UA Main Campus, Tucson
(Reception for graduates, family and friends follows at the Women’s Plaza Walkway.)
Media contact: Gerri Kelly, 520-626-9669, cell phone 312-437-7007, gkelly@email.arizona.edu
The College will award 174 Bachelor of Science degrees with a major in public health, 111 Master of Public Health degrees, two Master of Science in biostatistics, one Master of Science in environmental health sciences, three Doctor of Public Health degrees with a concentration in public health policy and management, one doctorate in environmental health sciences and one doctorate in health behavior health promotion. Eleven students will receive dual MD-MPH degrees: two from the UA College of Medicine – Tucson and nine from the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix. (The MD-MPH Program is offered jointly by the UA Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix and the UA College of Public Health.)
Established in 2000, the College is the first nationally accredited college of public health in the Southwest. Today the college remains the only accredited college of public health in the state of Arizona with campuses in Tucson and Phoenix. The college enrolls more than 1,100 students per year across degree programs at the bachelor, master and doctoral levels. Through research, education and community engagement, the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health continues to find solutions to public health problems in Arizona, the southwest and globally.
Inspirational 2017 UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health graduates include Sofía Gómez; her profile is available on the UAHS Office of Public Affairs website at “UA Health Sciences Convocations 2017: Meet Some of the Graduates”