Commencement Speaker
<< Back to Homepage | Speaker Archive: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | Full list
2025 Commencement Speaker
Watch the Speech:
Dr. Reshma Jagsi served as the commencement speaker for the College of Medicine and Life Sciences
ceremony on Friday, May 16. She also received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science,
honoris causa.
Dr. Reshma Jagsi is the Lawrence W. Davis Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology and a Senior Faculty Fellow in the Center for Ethics at Emory University. She holds a M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School and M.Sc. and D.Phil. degrees from University of Oxford. Dr. Jagsi completed her trainings at the University of Hawaii and Massachusetts General Hospital.
A board-certified radiation oncologist, Dr. Jagsi specializes in the care of patients with breast cancer.
Dr. Jagsi has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, Association of American Physicians, and American Society of Clinical Investigation in recognition of her work to promote equity in health outcomes of patients and in career outcomes of physicians. Author of over 500 publications, she is PI of multiple grants from NIH and philanthropic foundations.
Her research includes studies investigating women’s under-representation in senior positions in academic medicine and the mechanisms that must be targeted to promote equity among NIH-funded clinical researchers, leading to numerous high-impact publications in journals like the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA. Also a clinical trialist and health services researcher herself, she is internationally recognized for research to strengthen autonomy in patients with breast cancer and to individualize breast cancer care.
Active in organized medicine, she serves on the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine, the NIH Advisory Committee for Research on Women’s Health, the Steering Committee of the Early Breast Cancer Trialists Collaborative Group and the Lancet’s Breast Cancer Commission; she is a former member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
She has received many honors, including the Marion Spencer Fay Award, the Elizabeth Blackwell Award, the AAMC Group on Women in Science and Medicine’s Leadership Award, LEAD Oncology’s Woman of the Year Award, ASTRO’s inaugural Mentorship Award, AMSA’s Women Leaders in Medicine Award, AWiS’s Meridian Award, AMA’s Inspiration Award, AMWA’s Woman in Science Award, and AAWR’s Marie Curie Award. She is a fellow of the AAAS, ASCO, ASTRO, AAWR, and the Hastings Center.
Grand Rounds:
Dr. Reshma Jagsi, an internationally recognized physician-scientist and advocate for equity in medicine, also presented grand rounds on Friday morning, titled "Optimizing the Success and Vitality of Women in Academic Medicine: An Evidence-based Approach."