Public Health Great Donald A. Henderson and Nursing Research Leader Patricia Grady to Speak at Commencement
Apr 23, 2008
Brooklyn, NY - Public health pioneer Donald A. Henderson, MD, MPH, who directed the successful global campaign to eradicate smallpox, and Patricia Grady, PhD, RN, director of the National Institute of Nursing Research, will be the speakers at commencement ceremonies of SUNY Downstate Medical Center on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan.
Dr. Henderson will speak at the ceremony for the College of Medicine, School of Graduate Studies, and Graduate Public Health Program at 4:00 pm and Dr. Grady will speak at the ceremony for the College of Nursing and School of Health Professions at 12:00 noon.
Dr. Grady will be awarded an honorary doctor of science degree for her contributions to research and nursing education. Lily S. Hsia, retired professor and chair of midwifery at the School of Health Professions, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree in recognition of achievements in midwifery education and her service to SUNY Downstate.
At the later ceremony, honorary doctor of science degrees will be awarded to Joseph E. Murray, MD, who conducted the world’s first successful kidney transplant in 1954 and won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1990, and to Marc Goldstein, MD, a 1972 graduate of Downstate’s College of Medicine who is a pioneer in male reproductive surgery at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
Dr. Henderson, who already holds an honorary degree from the State University of New York and many other schools, will receive SUNY Downstate Medical Center's Ailanthus Award.
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About SUNY Downstate Medical Center
SUNY Downstate Medical Center, founded in 1860, was the first medical school in the United States to bring teaching out of the lecture hall and to the patient’s bedside. A center of innovation and excellence in research and clinical service delivery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center comprises a College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, School of Public Health, University Hospital of Brooklyn, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively.
SUNY Downstate ranks twelfth nationally in the number of alumni who are on the faculty of American medical schools. More physicians practicing in New York City have graduated from SUNY Downstate than from any other medical school.