From the Dean

Graduates: ‘Your contributions here leave us a better school’

By John R. Finnegan, Jr., Ph.D.
Dean and Professor
May 12, 2008

Next Monday marks SPH Commencement, one of my favorite days of the year. It’s when we gather together to recognize the excellent work of our graduates and send them off to begin what I’m sure will be long, fruitful, and fulfilling careers.

As we assemble on the stage of Northrop Auditorium, I’ll be thinking about how each one of our 2008 graduates¿all 246 of you¿will go on to change the world. As you well know by now, public health is a wide and far-reaching field, and its impact runs deep. That impact begins with graduates like you, people who have the commitment, skills, and knowledge to make a substantial change in people’s lives.

I hope the school has served you well in our mission to educate, but also in our endeavor to connect you to leaders in the field and to start you on a path that fits your unique interests and talents. While you are physically leaving the halls of the SPH, I urge you to maintain a presence in our school. Stay in touch with professors and colleagues. Make lifelong learning a goal. Consider how you can nurture future generations as you yourself have been nurtured. We pledge to be your lifelong partner in learning.

Your contributions here leave us a better school, and I know that you will make for a better world with the work you are about to begin.

• More information about SPH Commencement