Pulse - Summer 2023 Degrees of Healing and Discovery: Commencement 2023

We thank you, our graduates, for partnering with us, and bringing creativity and energy to our educational community.

– Donna Russo, PhD, HU ’89, interim vice dean for educational affairs, senior associate dean for curriculum, and William Maul Measey Chair in Medical Education

The class of 2023 celebrated Commencement at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on May 12, with an audience of family, friends, Drexel leadership, special guests, faculty, alumni and professional staff. The ceremony celebrated more than 550 graduates from Drexel’s MD program and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies.

Before the students received their degrees and donned their hoods, Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Dean and Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs Charles B. Cairns, MD, addressed the graduates, emphasizing the day’s theme of community and support.

Today we celebrate the hope and promise that each of you carries into your careers and your lives as you make a powerful impact on society.

– Seema Baranwal, MD, senior associate dean for student affairs

“You have supported one another personally and academically, and collectively helped us to thrive as an institution,” Cairns said. “Your support for each other mirrors the support you gave the Philadelphia community. We know that you will be instrumental in shaping the world beyond our local communities for years to come.”

The class of 2023 has participated in many outreach initiatives, from distributing hygiene kits, food and water in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood to mentoring high school students interested in pursuing STEM careers. Students have also helped advance scientific knowledge through research, poster and platform presentations at prestigious conferences, and publication in scientific journals.

Remember today, and remember our last few years. Remember what we’ve learned and what we still need to learn. Remember our teachers. Remember our loved ones. Cherish them all.

– Kyle Brunner, MD ’23

During the Commencement ceremony, Drexel University President John Fry praised graduates’ achievements. “Your accomplishments fill me with confidence that the future of democracy and humanity is in the very best of hands,” he said. “I am tremendously proud to call all of you Drexel graduates.”

Graduates and Commencement attendees heard an address from John H. Glick, MD, emeritus professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and former vice president and associate dean for resource development. He was the longest-serving director of Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center, and a pioneering oncologist. “I am not the same doctor that I was when I graduated from medical school in 1969 and you will not be the same person in ten years that you are today,” Glick said. “What you have today, thanks to Drexel, is an excellent foundation to learn, grow and mature. I urge you to continue your daily learning, and to enhance your abilities. I salute you at the beginning of the next phase of your career.”

Staying flexible, adapting to challenges, and finding new solutions is part of what has kept this school going for 175 years, and these traits will serve you well in the future.

– Edward Siegel, MD ’12, president, Alumni Association

The Commencement ceremony was also streamed live for those who could not attend in person and is archived online at drexel.edu/medicine/news-events/commencement.