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HSPH CLASS DAY Ho Urges HSPH Grads to Boost Public Knowledge, Spark Scientific Wonder David Ho used his address to HSPH graduates, families, and faculty to praise science as the foundation of public health. Photo by Christopher Ternan AIDS researcher David Ho, whose work helped create the protease inhibitors that have dramatically reduced deaths from HIV infection in the U.S. and Europe, told more than 300 students of HSPH at the June 8 degree ceremony in the Kresge courtyard that they have entered a noble and gratifying profession. Discussing the importance of science and scientists to public health, he urged the students to "bring back the spark of wonder about nature that lies deep in each member of our society." Ho said that good research requires a combination of bold decision making and a willingness to take informed risks. He noted several milestones in the history of public health that have significantly affected society, such as messages that high cholesterol and smoking damage health. "Imagine the fruits of science," he said, adding, "Allow imagination and creativity to percolate throughout your lives." Of the graduates, 266 received master's degrees and 52 received doctoral degrees. The students hailed from 34 countries.
HSPH Class of 2000 president Sasha Hegde hands fellow graduate Trevor Peter a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Photo by Rachel Cunningham Prior to Ho's speech, student orator Amy Vinturella shared her reasons for entering the public health field through an anecdote. After she had earned a bachelor's, she worked as a water sanitation researcher, collecting samples and testing them for pollutants. After wandering onto a private citizen's property, she came face to face with a man wanting to know why she was taking samples from his pond. Vinturella explained her work to the man by drawing diagrams on napkins and found that she loved the experience. She applied to HSPH that year. Vinturella told her fellow students that some people will not understand their work and others will choose to ignore it, but she said, recalling the inscription on the School's FXB building, everyone has a fundamental right to the highest standard of public health. Earlier in the day at the University commencement exercises in Cambridge, HSPH student Arese Carrington delivered the Graduate English Address after competing with students University-wide for the honor. A survivor of a Nigerian civil war who later became a doctor and married a U.S. ambassador, Carrington told her fellow Harvard graduates that they are accountable for upholding social justice and promoting public health. "Had I wanted to escape, even for an academic year, the problems I faced every day as a medical doctor in Nigeria," said Carrington, "I should have chosen another school in this University rather than the School of Public Health. There I have studied the many scourges that threaten the welfare of much of the developing world. I have also learned some of the ways to help.... Public health is a public good, so for it to be effective, we must have a conscience for social justice." —Christina Roache |
