April 24, 2017
Award-Winning Author Will Provide a ‘Reporters Notebook’ on current issues in Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, along with students, parents, families, faculty and other members of the UM SOM community, will welcome award-winning science journalist and University of Maryland alumna, Gina Kolata, MS, as the graduation speaker for this year’s graduating class. The UM SOM graduation ceremony will take place at 10am on May 18, 2017 at the Hippodrome Theater. As this year’s speaker, Ms. Kolata will receive an honorary Dean’s Medal from the UM SOM.
Kolata is a senior writer at the New York Times, where she reports on science and medicine. She is also the author of a new book, “Mercies in Disguise,” a medical mystery about a family afflicted with a disease that baffled doctors, how they figured out what the disease was, and how they dealt with the consequences. Before joining the Times in 1987, she was a senior writer for Science magazine. Ms. Kolata graduated from the University of Maryland and studied molecular biology on the graduate level at M.I.T. for a year and a half. Then she returned to the University of Maryland and obtained a master’s degree in applied mathematics.
“Gina Kolata is a preeminent science and medical journalist who is particularly insightful and thoughtful in her writing,” said Dean Reece, who is also Vice President of Medical Affairs for the University of Maryland and the John Z. and Akiko Bowers Distinguished Professor. “Her ability to report on a broad range of topics covering both scientific discovery and patient care is truly unique. We look forward to her perspectives, and to her advice for our newest MD graduates, who represent the future of discovery-based medicine and patient-centered care.”
The UM SOM graduating class of 2016 has 161 members. Forty-five percent of the class will specialize in either pediatrics, internal medicine and family medicine—fields that have some of the highest needs for new practitioners.
Her most recent book, “Mercies in Disguise: A Story of Hope, a Family’s Genetic Destiny, and the Science that Rescued Them,” was published in March of 2017. Her previous books include “Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss and the Myths and Realities of Dieting,” and “Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It.”
She has been a Pulitzer finalist twice – for investigative reporting in 2000 and for explanatory journalism in 2010. Her writing awards include two Front Page Award from the Newswomens Club of New York for medical writing, one in 2010 from the Silurian Society, for a series on the war on cancer and from the Associated Press Sports Editors for writing about the Caster Semenya intersex controversy at the world track championships. In previous years she has won awards from a variety of organizations, including the American Mathematics Society, The American Statistical Society, the American Association of Health Care Journalists, and from the University of Maryland, which gave her a Distinguished Alumnus Award.
She has lectured at various universities and medical schools, and was, for example, a Knight lecturer at the University of Akron, an Alfred and Julia Hill lecturer at the University of Tennessee, and was a speaker at the Wilson School at Princeton University, at the Program for Humanities in Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, and at the Millennium conference at New York Medical College. She was a faculty member at Medicine and the Media symposia at the National Institutes of Health and was a visiting professor at Princeton University where she taught a seminar on science writing.
Previous graduation speakers at UM SOM include Baltimore City Health Commissioner Leana Wen, former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, former Institute of Medicine President Harvey Fineberg and Neil Baer, executive producer of the television show ER.
About the University of Maryland School of Medicine
Commemorating its 210th anniversary, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as an innovative leader in accelerating innovation and discovery in medicine. The School of Medicine is the founding school of the University of Maryland and is an integral part of the 12-campus University System of Maryland. Located on the University of Maryland’s Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine works closely with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide a research-intensive, academic and clinically based education. With 45 academic departments, centers, programs and institutes and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians and research scientists, along with more than $400 million in extramural funding, the School is regarded as one of the leading biomedical research institutions in the U.S. with top-tier faculty and programs in cancer, brain science, surgery and transplantation, trauma and emergency medicine, vaccine development and human genomics, among other centers of excellence. The School is not only concerned with the health of the citizens of Maryland and the nation, but also has a global presence, with research and treatment facilities in more than 35 countries around the world. medschool.umaryland.edu/
Learn More
Contact
Office of Public Affairs
655 West Baltimore Street
Bressler Research Building 14-002
Baltimore, Maryland 21201-1559
Contact Media Relations
(410) 706-5260
Related stories
Friday, May 24, 2024
UMSOM Bids Farewell to the Class of 2024
Graduates in the Class of 2024 at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) gathered at the Hippodrome Theatre on May16, along with their families, friends, and School of Medicine faculty and staff, to celebrate their official transition from medical students to physicians. UMSOM Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor, presided over the ceremony marking his second UMSOM graduation as the 31st dean of the School. The graduating class of 139 physicians received their doctoral hoods in front of the assembled audience. Several graduates earned combined MD/Masters and MD/PhD degrees.
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Saying Farewell to the UMSOM Class of 2022
After four years of hard work and perseverance, graduates of the Class of 2022 at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) gathered at the Hippodrome Theatre on May 19 to celebrate their official transition from medical students to physicians. This year’s ceremony was especially significant for two reasons: It was the first grand scale in-person graduation celebration since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the final commencement ceremony over which current UMSOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA would preside. The graduating class of 148 physicians, who earned medical degrees, along with others who earned combined MD/Masters and MD/PhD degrees, received their doctoral hoods in front of hundreds of family members, friends, and faculty.
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy to Deliver Graduation Address to the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s 213th Graduating Class
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, will deliver the keynote address for this year’s graduating class. The UMSOM graduation ceremony will take place at the Hippodrome Theatre on Thursday, May 19, 2022. Doors open at 12:00 pm, the procession begins at 1:30 pm, and the ceremony begins at 2:00 pm.
Friday, May 15, 2020
UMSOM Holds Virtual Commencement to Celebrate Class of 2020
For the first time in the school’s 211-year history, the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) held a virtual commencement ceremony to celebrate the Class of 2020 on May 14. The ceremony marked the culmination of at least four years of studies for the 166 newly minted physicians, who earned medical degrees as well as combined MD/PhD and MD/Masters degrees.
Friday, May 17, 2019
So Long, Farewell, Class of 2019
The Class of 2019 received their doctoral hoods in a special graduation ceremony at the Hippodrome Theater on May 17. The ceremony marked the culmination of at least four years of studies for the 162 physicians, who earned medical degrees, as well as combined MD/PhD and MD/Masters degrees. Hundreds of family, friends, and faculty were there to cheer on the graduates as they officially transitioned from students to doctors.
Thursday, May 02, 2019
Leading Child Health Expert and NIH Official Dr. Diana Bianchi to Deliver Graduation Address to the University of Maryland School of Medicine's 210th Graduating Class
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that Diana W. Bianchi, MD, Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), will deliver the keynote address for this year’s graduating class. The UMSOM graduation ceremony will take place at the Hippodrome Theatre on May 16. Doors open at 12:30 pm, the procession begins at 1:30 pm and the ceremony begins at 2:00 pm.
Friday, May 18, 2018
Annual Student Awards Ceremony Recognizes Top Graduates
Following four years of countless tests, late-night study groups, and many cups of coffee, events leading up to graduation began with the 12th annual Student Awards Ceremony and Dinner.
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Saying Farewell to the Class of 2018
The Class of 2018 received their doctoral hoods in a special graduation ceremony at the Hippodrome Theater on May 17. Hundreds of family, friends, and faculty were there to cheer on the 146 graduates as they officially transitioned from students to doctors.
Tuesday, May 01, 2018
UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski to Deliver Graduation Address to University of Maryland School of Medicine's 209th Graduating Class
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, MA, PhD, President of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), will deliver the keynote address for this year’s graduating class. The UMSOM graduation ceremony will take place at 10 am on May 17, 2018 at the Hippodrome Theatre.
Thursday, May 18, 2017
So Long and Farewell to the Class of 2017
The Class of 2017 were the stars as they celebrated their graduation ceremony at the Hippodrome Theater on May 18. Hundreds of family, friends and faculty were there to cheer on the 160 graduates as they officially transitioned from students to doctors. “This celebration is also about you and, indeed, for you,” E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine, told the families “This celebration is also about you and, indeed, for you.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Annual Student Awards Ceremony Recognizes Top Graduates
The events leading up to Graduation 2016 kicked off in a special way the evening of May 18 with the 10th Annual Student Awards Ceremony and Dinner. Held at the Southern Management Corporation Campus Center, the awards dinner provided an opportunity to recognize the accomplished graduating students who have received scholarships, awards, and other academic prizes.