School of Medicine Commencement speakers

Washington University’s main Commencement ceremony will begin at 8:30 a.m. Friday, May 16, in Brookings Quadrangle on the Danforth Campus. Tony La Russa, recently elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and considered one of the best managers in baseball history, will give the 2014 Commencement address.

Additionally, the School of Medicine’s Recognition Ceremony will be at 3 p.m. in the Ferrara Theater of America’s Center, 701 Convention Plaza. The School of Medicine’s commencement speaker will be Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, a senior fellow and director of the Health Care Innovation and Value Initiative at the Brookings Institution.

The school’s student speaker will be Philip Laurence Perez, class president, candidate for a doctor of medicine.

The speaker for the Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences will be William W. Clark, PhD, professor of otolaryngology and director of the Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences, at 1 p.m. in the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center, Connor Auditorium.

The speaker for the Program in Occupational Therapy will be Glen Gillen, EdD, associate professor of clinical occupational therapy at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, at 1 p.m. in Graham Chapel. The event’s faculty speaker will be Kerri Morgan, instructor of occupational therapy and neurology. Student speakers will be Sarah Hendred, candidate for a master’s in occupational therapy, and Kari Burch, candidate for a doctorate in occupational therapy.

The speaker for the Program in Physical Therapy will be Ellen Spake, PhD, professor of physical therapy at Rockhurst University and assistant to the president in the Office of Mission and Ministry at Rockhurst, at 1:30 p.m. in the Khorassan Ballroom, The Chase Park Plaza, 212 N. Kingshighway. The event’s faculty speaker will be Susan S. Deusinger, PhD, executive director of the Program in Physical Therapy and a professor of physical therapy and of neurology. The student speaker will be Matthew Leonard, candidate for a doctorate in physical therapy.

Speakers for the Program in Clinical Investigation, Program in Applied Health Behavior Research and the Program in Population Health Sciences will be Larry Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine; Victoria J. Fraser, MD, the Adolphus Busch Professor and head of the Department of Medicine; and Graham Colditz, MD, DrPh, deputy director of the Institute for Public Health, the Niess-Gain Professor of Surgery and Professor of Medicine, and associate director of Siteman Cancer Center. The ceremony will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday, May 15, in the King Center in the Bernard Becker Medical Library.

Graduates of the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences (DBBS) will attend the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences’ Hooding and Recognition Ceremony, which will be held at about 11:30 a.m. at the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall in the 560 Trinity Avenue Music Center.