Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin Will Address Mailman School Graduates

The Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University announced today that Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has been selected to speak at its commencement ceremony on Tuesday, May 19, 2015.

"Dr. Osotimehin has been an exemplary public health ambassador, with a career that combines public sector leadership, scholarly erudition, and passion for improving health," said Linda P. Fried, Dean and DeLamar Professor of Public Health. "The Class of 2015 is poised to enter a world that demands knowledge of population health that can be deployed with effectiveness and respect, qualities for which Dr. Osotimehin is widely celebrated."

Dr. Osotimehin became UNFPA’s chief in 2011 after serving as Minister of Health in Nigeria and Director-General of the Nigerian National Agency for the Control of HIV and AIDS. He is credited with transforming the UN agency designated to improve the health and well-being of women and young people, particularly the most vulnerable, by improving access to sexual and reproductive health, realizing reproductive rights, and addressing serious health obstacles across the full lifecourse. His tenure at UNFPA has been marked by an understanding that even in the most serious public health emergency, knowledge must be tempered with compassion.

"Public health has great need for practitioners who are as eager to understand a community's culture as they are to improve its health," said Dr. Osotimehin. "I’m excited to meet the Mailman School’s talented graduates, to celebrate their accomplishment, and to charge them to always travel with humanity and humility as they enter our profession."

The Mailman School ranks among the top 5 public health schools in the country, according to the 2015 U.S. News & World Report graduate school rankings. Commencement takes place at the Armory, directly across from the School’s Columbia University Medical Center location in Washington Heights. More than 300 graduates will earn the Master’s in Public Health, Master of Science, Doctor of Public Health, and Doctor of Philosophy at the School ceremony before participating in the larger commencement held the next day at the university’s Morningside Heights campus.