Commencement
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health will celebrate our graduates at our Class Day ceremony:
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
The Armory
651 West 168th Street
New York, NY 10032
2024 Commencement Speaker
Monica Bertagnolli, MD, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will be our 2024 Class Day speaker. Dr. Bertagnolli leads the NIH to drive innovative research to improve the health of communities. She is the 17th director and second woman to lead the NIH in its history since 1887.
Dr. Bertagnolli’s vision for building a healthier America focuses on research-to-practice, equity, and community-wide impact. Her empathetic and transparent approach to gain the public’s trust in science and research comes at an inflection point in our public health history as we move out of the pandemic. Her career as a physician–scientist and cancer surgeon in the clinical oncology field gives her a unique perspective through which she shapes and implements visionary and practical initiatives. Previous to her role as Director of the NIH, she demonstrated exemplary public health leadership as the Director of the National Cancer Institute.