Dr. Anthony Fauci will virtually deliver the 2021 commencement address for Emory College of Arts and Sciences and receive the Emory University President’s Medal. Currently, Fauci is the chief medical adviser for President Joe Biden and has served seven presidents on domestic and global health issues, including COVID-19.
“I cannot think of a more inspiring person than Dr. Fauci to address the Class of 2021, whose Emory experience has been so dramatically shaped by the pandemic, and whose resilience and determination have inspired us again and again,” Emory President Gregory L. Fenves said. “During the past year, Dr. Fauci’s name has become synonymous with truth, clarity and medical expertise. As chief physician to our country in the midst of a pandemic, he has become one of the most trusted voices in medicine for millions of Americans, and we are excited to honor him as part of Emory’s 176th Commencement.”
In addition to his work on COVID-19, Fauci was one of the primary planners of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that has saved millions of lives all over the developing world. He has also been involved in creating treatments that allow people with HIV to live active lives, and he continues to give much of his research to the immunopathogenic mechanisms of HIV infection and the scope of the body’s immune responses to HIV.
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Fauci received an honorary doctorate from Emory in 2003, and will be only the sixth person to receive both highest honors awarded by Emory. These awards are given to people whose impact on the world has boosted the prospect of peace or improved cultural achievement, according to a statement from the University. Fauci share this honor with people like President Jimmy Carter, Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andy Young and the Dalai Lama.
“Emory’s motto, ‘the wise heart seeks knowledge,’ is exemplified by Dr. Fauci’s many decades of public service,” Fenves said. “Indeed, it is his wise heart, and the knowledge he has provided, that have helped us get through a year like no other.”
Fauci will speak live from Washington, as a part of the commencement ceremony for Emory College on May 16 at 10 a.m. The nine schools that make up Emory University will each hold physically distanced ceremonies May 14-16 at the Georgia World Congress Center, and each school will see Fauci’s acceptance speech for the President’s Medal.
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