SC Connecticut News

Dr. Megan L. Ranney, MD, delivered her inaugural Commencement address as the new Dean of the Yale School of Public Health on Monday, encouraging graduates to confront global challenges with optimism and determination. Addressing 361 students in Woolsey Hall, Ranney emphasized their resilience through obstacles like COVID-19 and urged them to leverage their skills for positive change.

“It is possible to feel hopeless, but I hope that you will reframe it into a message of possibility,” said Ranney, highlighting their potential for impact. She encouraged graduates to follow their passion and accurately present data in public health missions.

Ranney noted significant public health achievements, such as the reduction in global AIDS deaths and the elimination of smallpox, attributing these successes to public health efforts. “These successes that we barely appreciate today are all thanks to public health and you, graduates, are the next step in that optimism,” she stated.

Class Speaker Kamali Clora echoed Ranney’s sentiments on leadership during turbulent times. Clora underscored the need for bold leaders in public health who can disrupt existing paradigms. “Public health needs bold, empathetic, visionary leaders like us who are unafraid to disrupt existing paradigms and zealously forge new paths,” he said.

Clora also emphasized the importance of courage in leading change and warned against complacency. He urged his peers not to lose sight of human stories behind data points: “The work we do is deeply personal...we owe our community our ears, our skills, and our voice.”

Keynote speaker Dr. Céline Gounder addressed current global challenges like H5N1 avian flu and stressed creative political solutions in public health responses. She highlighted lessons from COVID-19 about systemic approaches beyond biomedical solutions: “Public health is political. And learning how to navigate the political with grace may be the greatest challenge of your careers.”

The ceremony also included messages from Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, who praised students’ readiness shaped by firsthand pandemic experiences.

Additionally honored were faculty members Michaela Dinan and Michael Wininger for distinguished teaching; Kai Chen for mentoring; Ashley Nicole Reynolds Marshall and Amrit Sandhu for contributions to equity; Ellie Cragan Bourgikos and Riena Suzanne Harker for outstanding MPH theses; Catherine Wenger for international health research; Kamali Clora with an inspiration award; Charles Minicucci for excellence in global health; Karenna Kinsella Thomas for a thesis on prison perinatal programs; and Sunny Siddique as an exceptional teaching fellow.

The event concluded with graduates celebrated by family members at a luncheon where further awards were announced.