Dear Members of the HMS Community:

This time of year always brings with it an atmosphere of excitement, especially as we welcome spring and anticipate Class Day and related graduation activities. The energy is palpable, and I can’t help but think that Paul Farmer—whose life we celebrated at a candlelight vigil on March 4—would be delighted to see us pushing ahead in our work with joy, momentum, and resolve. If you are interested in listening to audio from the vigil, it is now available on our website.

Our community will be healing the harsh wound of Paul’s tragic passing for quite a while. It is far from a platitude to say that the people who leave us do live on inside of us. Paul was larger than life, and it is important that we preserve his spirit, work, and impact. All of us—whether we’re bench researchers, staff members, students, physicians-in-training, or fieldworkers in global health—seek to emulate Paul’s promise to the world and his commitment to serving the needs of the most vulnerable. His commitment to a higher purpose and his embodiment of the HMS mission encompassed every fiber of his being, and we each have a role to play in stewarding what he gifted us.

It gives me great pleasure, on that note, to share that I have named Allan Brandt, the HMS Amalie Moses Kass Professor of the History of Medicine in the Department of Social Medicine, as interim chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. As many of you know, Allan first joined the department in 1982, and has long since been an active contributor to its teaching and research, as well as in the articulation of its goals, principles, and values. I am grateful for his willingness to guide the department through this time of transition.

In addition, Louise Ivers, HMS professor of medicine, has been appointed by Provost Alan Garber as faculty director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. In this role, Louise will lead the HGHI in the development and execution of its intellectual vision and academic plan.

Both Allan and Louise have extensive knowledge of and experience in public health policy, social determinants of disease, and global health equity. They are exemplary leaders who will carry on Paul’s legacy and usher us into an era in which no disparity in health care is acceptable.

I’d also like to highlight a few noteworthy milestone events, both recent and upcoming:

• First, congratulations to the MD Class of 2022 on your Match Day, which took place Friday, March 18, and marked the first in-person celebratory event for our students in two years. Your residency is an excellent opportunity to begin witnessing the fruits of your labor, so I hope you are all thrilled at the prospect of embarking on your respective journeys.
  
• Second, kudos to the recipients of this year’s Diversity Awards, who were recognized last week via Zoom webinar following the Howard, Dorsey, Still Lecture, named for Edwin C.J.T. Howard, MD, Class of 1869; Thomas Graham Dorsey, MD, Class of 1869; and James Thomas Still, MD, Class of 1871—the first three African Americans to graduate from HMS. Keynote speaker and HMS alumnus André Churchwell, vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion and chief diversity officer at Vanderbilt University, gave compelling remarks about the various models of creativity and how self-exploration is crucial to fueling scientific and medical innovation. His message reminds us that we should honor our multiplicities—and that our hobbies and interests have the potential to inform our work in beautiful and unexpected ways.
  
• Finally, we encourage you to save the dates April 12-14 to tune in via Zoom to Harvard’s first Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Forum, which will bring the University community together to learn and engage with critical EDIB topics. This year’s theme, Reimagine Our Community, is driven by the need to collaboratively explore how we might work together to build a campus environment where everyone can thrive. Joan Reede, HMS dean for diversity and community partnership, will be among the speakers.

As we finish out an academic year that has had its fair share of triumphs and difficulties, we can all be grateful for the dedication of so many in the HMS community. Each of you contributes in tangible ways to the emergence of a new future for medicine and health care, and I am deeply appreciative of and awed by your resilience and persistence.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University