THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS GRADUATE SCHOOL OF … · GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES AT HOUSTON...
Transcript of THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS GRADUATE SCHOOL OF … · GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES AT HOUSTON...
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THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES AT HOUSTON COMMENCEMENT SCRIPT 2016 PROCESSIONAL: Dr. Barton will lead the processional. (Marchers stand until the end of the processional)
DEANS AT PODIUM: (TO MARCHERS) Mike: Please be seated. Shelley: On behalf of the students, faculty and leaders of The University of Texas
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston and our two
institutions that support our graduate school, The University of Texas
Health Science Center at Houston and The University of Texas MD
Anderson Cancer Center,
we welcome all of you here today to our 2016 commencement exercises.
I am Dr. Michelle Barton, the MD Anderson Cancer Center Dean of our
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston or GSBS.
I am a Professor of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis at MD
Anderson.
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Mike:
I am Dr. Michael Blackburn, the UTHealth Dean of the GSBS,
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Executive Vice President
and Chief Academic Officer at UTHealth.
It is a great pleasure and privilege to welcome all of you to our 2016
commencement exercises. It is particularly wonderful to see so many family
and friends here to help us celebrate the accomplishments of our
graduates.
We are especially happy to announce that our Specialized Master’s
Program in Genetic Counseling is celebrating its 25th commencement
today! Dr. Jacqueline Hecht founded this program in 1989 – one of the first
in the nation – and Claire Singletary, the current director of the program, is
with us on stage in honor of this anniversary.
Eight of our master’s degree graduates attending this year’s ceremony are
from the Genetic Counseling Program. They will be the first to tell you that
our Genetic Counseling is extremely competitive, has a tough curriculum
and a wonderful community supported by all of their faculty. Genetic
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Counseling graduates secure great jobs in their discipline and, as they
leave us, they know that they’re ready for the challenges ahead. We
congratulate the program’s dedicated leaders and faculty for their
commitment to excellence and wishes them many more years of success!
Shelley:
formal ceremony marking the achievements and accomplishments of our
graduates. CELEBRATE! Mother’s day…
we are very glad that you could join us.
We want to begin by introducing you to all of the people with us on stage.
If each person would rise and remain standing as your name is called
** audience please hold your applause until all are introduced.
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ON STAGE ON THE SECOND ROW TO MY FAR LEFT, Ms. Jillian Losh, Secretary, GSBS Graduate Student Association; Dr. Chad Wayne, 2002 GSBS Graduate, President of the Alumni Association;
Dr. Andrew Bean, Associate Dean of Graduate Education for GSBS, Professor, Neurobiology and Anatomy, UTHealth; Dr. Eric Boerwinkle, Dean, UTHealth School of Public Health; Professor, Epidemiology, UTHealth; Dr. Cheryl Walker, Director of the Institute of Biosciences & Technology, Professor, Center for Translational Cancer Research, Texas A&M Health Science Center; Dr. William Mattox, Associate Dean of Graduate Education for GSBS;
Dr. Ellen Richie, Assistant Dean for the GSBS at Science Park; Professor, Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, MD Anderson Cancer Center; Dr. Barbara Stoll, Dean of the Medical School, UTHealth; Dr. Oliver Bögler, Associate Dean for the GSBS, and Senior Vice President, Academic Affairs, MD Anderson Cancer Center;
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Dr. Marenda Wilson-Pham, Assistant Dean of Graduate Education for the GSBS, Dr. Eric Swindell, Assistant Dean of Graduate Education for the GSBS
Mike: ON STAGE IN THE FIRST ROW TO MY FAR LEFT, Ms. Claire Singletary Director of the GSBS Genetic Counseling Program, Associate Professor, Pediatrics, UTHealth; Dr. George Stancel, Executive Vice President of Academic and Research Affairs Professor, Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, UTHealth; Dr. Russell Broaddus, Professor, Pathology MD Anderson Cancer Center And Co-Director of our MD/PhD Program And Recipient of this year’s John P. McGovern Outstanding Teaching Award; Dr. David Johnson, President of the Graduate Faculty, Professor, Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, MD Anderson Cancer Center; Dr. Margaret Kripke, Professor Emerita, Immunology MD Anderson Cancer Center; And today’s commencement speaker Dr. Giuseppe Colasurdo, President of UTHealth
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Dr. Ethan Dmitrovsky, Provost and Executive Vice President, MD Anderson Cancer Center; The faculty marshal is Dr. Darren Boehning, Professor,
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UTHealth; And, the student marshal is Dr. Melinda Yates, Assistant Professor, Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center; Please join us in welcoming these very special guests and members of our GSBS family. CLAP CLAP CLAP Shelley: (2-3 minutes) Remarks We are very excited to have all of you here.
Our students have dedicated themselves to giving back to society.
They have sacrificed much in the way of time, brain power, income and
traveled great distance in many cases.
At our graduate school, they have sharpened their critical thinking,
generated and tested ideas, learned how to deal with failure and overcome
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trials and tribulation to achieve great success.
We are here to honor their accomplishments and you, their family, friends
and colleagues who are here today.
Mike: (2-3 minutes) Remarks I always look forward to this ceremony and the unique opportunity it
provides to celebrate our students, our faculty and in particular their
collaborative accomplishments. Graduates, we know how hard you have
worked to get here today, but now the experiments are complete, the
presentations and committee meetings are done and it’s time to celebrate
the results of your efforts here at the GSBS. I want to express my
personal congratulations to each of you, and I hope that today will be as
special for you as it is for us. We know you will go on to do great things
as leaders in the scientific community and we look forward to following your
successes.
I also want to recognize the efforts of our faculty, particularly those
advisors who have students graduating today. Thank you for your
dedication to training these scientific leaders of tomorrow.
Mike:
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Our Graduate School is unique in many ways but perhaps most
obviously is our association with our two parent institutions - UTHealth and
UT-MD Anderson Cancer Center. At this time, I would like to invite Dr.
Giuseppe Colasurdo, President of UTHealth, to bring greetings. We want
to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Colasurdo for his innovative leadership
and outstanding support of the Graduate School.
Dr. Colasurdo: (3-4 minutes) MESSAGE FROM UTHEALTH
Shelley: Thank you Dr. Colasurdo.
Shelley: It is my pleasure to present Dr. Ethan Dmitrovsky, Provost of MD
Anderson, who will bring greetings on behalf of The University of Texas MD
Anderson Cancer Center. We also want to thank him for his deep interest
in graduate education and his encouragement and outstanding support of
GSBS.
Dr. Dmitrovsky: (3-4 minutes) (MESSAGE FROM MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER) Mike: Thank you Dr. Dmitrovsky. Dr. David Johnson, President of the Graduate Faculty, will give Greetings from the GSBS faculty.
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Dr. Johnson: (3-4 minutes) (MESSAGE FROM THE GRADUATE FACULTY) Mike: Thank you Dr. Johnson.
We would now like to introduce Ms. Jillian Losh, Secretary of the GSBS Graduate Student Association. Jill will present the John P. McGovern Outstanding Teacher Award. Ms. Losh: (2 minutes) presents the John P. McGovern Award to Dr. Russell Broaddus. Dr. Broaddus, Winner of McGovern Teaching Award: (2-3 minutes) (ACCEPTANCE REMARKS) (Applause) Shelley: Congratulations to Dr. Broaddus — you are an outstanding leader and educator! Shelley: INTRODUCTION OF THE SPEAKER
It is a great honor to introduce today’s commencement speaker,
Dr. Margaret Kripke,
Professor and Vivian L. Smith Chair Emerita, The University of Texas
MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Professor Emerita of the GSBS.
Dr. Kripke is a highly regarded scientist, a visionary leader, a supportive
mentor and a friend of education.
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She is perhaps best known internationally for her work in the immunology
of skin cancer;
locally, she will always be unforgettable and important to us thanks to her
outstanding leadership and service
founding chair of the Department of Immunology from 1986-1998,
Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Office from 1998 – 2007,
Special Advisor to the Provost from 2007-2009, all at the MD Anderson
Cancer Center.
After this time, the entire state of Texas owes Dr. Kripke thanks for her
service as Chief Scientific Officer of the Cancer Prevention and Research
Institute of Texas (CPRIT) from 2013-2016.
And of course, closer to home, Dr. Kripke was president of our faculty at
the GSBS from 1996 to 1997.
Dr. Kripke holds many Lifetime Achievement Awards and honors, and I will
mention only a few:
She was appointed by the President of the United States as an advisor and
member of the President’s Cancer Panel, 2003-2006, 2006-2011
Lifetime Achievement Award, American Society for Photobiology, 2004
President’s Award, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center,
2007
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Lifetime Achievement Award, American Skin Association, 2007
Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame, 2010
BioHouston Women in Science Award, 2011 5
Inaugural Fellow, Academy of the American Association for Cancer
Research, 2013
An honor Dr. Kripke shared with her spouse, the Chair Emeritus of
Cancer Biology at MD Anderson, Dr. Joshua Fidler. We are honored that
Dr. Kripke accepted our invitation to be our commencement speaker today.
Please welcome Dr. Kripke as our 2015-2016 Commencement Speaker.
Dr. Kripke: (~15 minutes) (COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS “The Most
Important Thing”)
Mike: Thank you very much Dr. Kripke for being with us today and for your
thought-provoking remarks to our graduates and all those in attendance.
As a small token of our appreciation, we want to give you a memento
symbolizing this special occasion in the form of an etched glass plaque.
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Mike: We have come to the most important portion of today's program - the
actual awarding of the degrees. Our Graduate School was established in
1963 and granted its first degrees in 1966. The first class consisted of 13
individuals earning their Ph.D. degrees. Since then, over 2,600 degrees
have been earned by our alumni, a group that today's graduates will soon
join.
Our School has grown along with our parent institutions and today we
are one of the largest and best institutions in the world that offers advanced
training in the biomedical sciences. We have over 400 students working
with terrific Faculty.
Our graduates have already accomplished marvelous things to the
benefit of science and society, and those of you graduating today will add
to this long list of contributions GSBS alumni have made. As Deans, and
speaking on behalf of all the faculty and staff, we are very proud of each
and every one of you. From this day forth we look forward to counting you
among our alumni with the full knowledge that you will bring credit and
distinction to our institution as well as yourselves.
Shelley:
Our program –
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Names of students receiving degrees today
Lists of their special awards, which are possible thanks to our
generous donors and our students’ talents.
As they cross the stage, Dr. Mattox names and GSBS awards.
With their degree, each student academic hood.
Every school academic hood of specific color
established in the US in 1893 and derives from the medieval gowns
worn at European universities.
Each of our graduates -- personally hooded by their mentors or an
invited faculty member or our own specially honored head of Genetic
Counseling, Claire Singletary.
choreography.
Feel free to take a photo as your graduate comes up and walks
across the stage, please feel free to do so.
kindly sit down
Mike:
As the candidates come to the stage to receive their degrees, we
invite President Colasurdo and Provost Dmitrovsky to join us in
congratulating them.
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Will the candidates for the Degree of Master of Science in the
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences please rise?
President Colasurdo and Provost Dmitrovsky, on behalf of the faculty
of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, it is our pleasure to
certify to you that the candidates who stand before you have
successfully completed all academic requirements for the Degree of
Master of Science.
Together, Dr. Colasurdo and Dr. Dmitrovsky:
By the authority vested by the State of Texas in the Board of Regents, and
delegated by them to me, I hereby confer upon each of you the Degree of
Master of Science.
STAGE NOTE, DON’T SAY THIS
Dr. Yates will lead the Masters graduates to the side of the stage and
they will march individually across the stage as their names are called
after they are hooded.
Dr. Mattox will announce name, advisor, hooder (if different from
advisor) and award/s, if any.
Shelley: After the Masters students are done
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Will the candidates for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences please rise?
President Colasurdo and Provost Dmitrovsky, on behalf of the faculty
of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, it is our pleasure to
certify to you that the candidates who stand before you have
successfully completed all academic requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy.
Together, Dr. Colasurdo and Dr. Dmitrovsky
By the authority vested by the State of Texas in the Board of Regents, and
delegated by them to me, I hereby confer upon each of you the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy.
STAGE NOTE, DON’T SAY THIS
Dr. Yates will lead the Ph.D. graduates to the side of the stage and they will
march individually across the stage as their names are called after they are
hooded.
Dr. Mattox will announce name, advisor, hooder (if different from advisor)
and award/s, if any.
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Shelley:
Our mission at the GSBS is to train the next generation of biomedical
scientists.
We know that our next generation is ready to meet the challenges that
await them.
Let’s give today's graduates a collective round of applause!
Clap, Clap, Clap
Mike:
At this point in our ceremony, we would like to recognize the faculty
members in attendance, for their efforts in educating the men and women
who have just received their diplomas. I will read the names of the faculty
with us today - in order of their length of appointment on our
faculty. Please stand when your name is called, and remain standing until
all of your colleagues have been identified. Please hold your applause until
all faculty in attendance have been named.
The senior faculty members in attendance today, who were appointed in
the academic years 1973 through 1984, are Stephen Daiger, Barbara
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Murray, William Plunkett, Ellen Richie, George Stancel, Louise Strong,
Heinrich Taegtmeyer, Elizabeth Travis, and Edgar T. Walters. They are
exceptional examples of the commitment our school has been fortunate to
have from its senior faculty over the years.
Shelley:
25-30 years of service:
Eric Boerwinkle,
Jacqueline Hecht,
Mien-Chie Hung,
Ann Killary,
Guillermina Lozano, and
M. Neal Waxham.
15-25 years of service on the GSBS faculty:
Joseph Alcorn,
Michelle Barton,
Andrew Bean,
Michael Blackburn,
Gilbert Cote,
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Kim-An Do,
Zhen Fan,
Varsha Gandhi,
Yong-Jian Geng,
Goeffrey Ibbott,
David Johnson,
Jian Kuang,
William Margolin,
William Mattox,
Pierre McCrea,
Kevin Morano,
Jagannadha Sastry,
Subrata Sen,
Cheryl Walker,
Richard Wendt,
Rick Wetsel and
Dihua Yu.
Mike:
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Faculty holding GSBS appointments for 10-15 years are:
Oliver Bögler,
Russell Broaddus,
Danielle Garsin,
Ralf Krahe,
Xin Lin,
Michael Lorenz,
Qing Ma,
Sarah Jane Noblin,
Kimberly Schluns,
Anil Sood,
Ambro van Hoof,
Kwong-Kwok Wong,
Yang Xia.
Those with 5-10 years of service include:
Robert Bast,
George Calin,
Carrie Cameron,
Nathan Carlin,
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Shine Chang,
Shahrukh Hashmi,
Stephen Kry,
Dean Lee,
Claire Singletary,
Eric Swindell,
Kenneth Tsai and
Wendy Woodward.
Shelley:
1-5 years duration include:
Geoffrey Bartholomeuz,
Darren Boehning,
Ken Chen,
Molly Daniels,
Jessica Davis,
Ethan Dmitrovsky,
George Eisenhoffer, Jr.,
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Cameron Jeter,
Nevena Krstic,
Jennifer Lemons,
Nicholas Navin,
Marenda Wilson-Pham,
Melinda Yates and
Thomasz Zal.
If there are any Emeritus faculty, visiting past faculty or any additional
GSBS faculty members in the audience, please stand now so that you may
be recognized.
Mike:
Ladies and Gentlemen, standing before you, you see over a
millennium of collective service to society, this institution, and its students.
Please join me in expressing our sincere appreciation to these faculty
members for their contributions to the education of 2,600 alumni, and
especially to today's graduates.
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CLAP CLAP CLAP
We have a wonderful collection of staff at UTHealth and MD
Anderson Cancer Center who support our students in many essential ways.
Would all the members of the GSBS staff please rise, as well as any
program managers and members of the MD Anderson and UTHealth staffs
here today?
Please help us express our appreciation to these wonderful people,
and all the other university staff they represent, who have helped today's
graduates and all of our other students in countless ways.
CLAP CLAP CLAP
Now that today's graduates have been officially transformed into
Alumni, we call on our last speaker, Dr. Chad Wayne, president of our
Alumni Association.
Dr. Wayne: (1-2 minutes).
Congratulations, graduates! Welcome to you as brand new alumni. I
want to let you know that upon graduation you become an immediate
member of this illustrious body of individuals, the GSBS Alumni
Association. There are no dues, and the company is most impressive! We
invite you to stay in touch and also become part of the GSBS Alumni
LinkedIn group that we think will benefit you long term through many
collegial connections - find it on the GSBS alumni webpage. If you would
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like to take photos with your diplomas after the ceremony, an area near the
front entrance of the lobby has been designated a ―Photo Zone.‖ The
Alumni Association is giving you a complimentary photo frame engraved
with the official GSBS logo. Please be sure to pick up this frame at the
reception near the Photo Zone! Members of the GSBS Alumni Steering
Committee will be there to greet you. And, as another special gift, you will
be emailed photos of you crossing the stage as a permanent record of this
extraordinary day. I look forward to seeing you at future alumni events!
Shelley:
Thank you, Dr. Wayne—
Photo opportunities abound giant version of our diploma in the lobby
AND post pictures of today's ceremonies on the Alumni and GSBS
websites.
We will conclude with some special thanks:
First, I am sure the graduates today are thankful that our former dean, Dr.
George Stancel, signed the agreement to admit most of them to the
graduate school. George… please stand?
And our biggest thanks to the parents, spouses, significant others,
and children of today's graduates.
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HAPPY early MOTHER’S DAY!!
We are so glad that you could be here
Thank you for your love, support, and encouragement of our graduates.
May we ask the members of our graduates’ families if they would please
stand?
Let’s give them a big round of applause.
CLAP CLAP CLAP
Mike:
As we conclude, we would like to express our appreciation:
-to both President Colasurdo and Provost Dmitrovsky, for participating and
conferring the degrees;
-to Dr. Kripke for her inspiring address;
-The Ambient Arts for the music today;
-The GSBS staff, who have worked to make this ceremony a success;
-And, all the other friends of the GSBS and our graduates here with us
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today.
Shelley:
reception just outside of Stude Hall
If the audience would please remain seated until the graduates, Faculty
and platform party have completed the recessional.
Thank you once again to all of you for being here with us today, this
ceremony is concluded. Congratulations!
Dean Barton will exit stage left down the stairs, first, followed by Dean Blackburn (directly from the podium or at stage level) then Dr. Singletary, who is on the stage left end of the first row will follow Dean Barton down the stairs. The stage party will follow down the stairs and then by any multiple-hooders remaining onstage, then the general faculty and then graduating students/single hooders.