A sea of Weill Cornell students, family and friends filled Carnegie Hall for the 2004 Commencement ceremonies.
On June 2, Weill Medical College conferred 111 M.D. degrees and the Graduate School of Medical Sciences conferred 35 Ph.D. degrees and 6 M.S. degrees at joint commencement ceremonies held in Carnegie Hall. Twelve of the new Medical College graduates were members of the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program administered jointly by Weill Cornell, The Rockefeller University and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The Alumni Awards of Distinction for the Medical College and Graduate School, respectively, were presented to Francis Chisari, M.D., '68, and Herbert Rosenkranz, Ph.D., '59.
Sanford Weill, Chairman of Weill Cornell's Board of Overseers, and his wife, Joan, join the Commencement celebration.
With an introduction by Dean Antonio Gotto, Jeffrey Lehman, the 11th president of Cornell University, delivered his first Commencement address to students of Weill Cornell. "You are the triumphant 2 percent of the nearly 7,000 who once applied to sit where you are sitting now," said President Lehman. "During your time at Weill Cornell, you proved yourselves worthy of the confidence that we have imposed on you. The research papers you published, the fellowships you've won, the good news you received on Match Day concerning your residencies all suggest that you are exceptionally accomplished, exceptionally motivated, exceptionally likely to go on to do great things."
(From left) Jeffrey Lehman, president of Cornell University; Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of Weill Cornell Medical College; Dr. David Hajjar, dean of the Weill Cornell Graduate School; and Sanford Weill.
President Lehman also noted that the success of the students was due in part to a solid "team effort" and "support system," to which the entire audience of parents, friends, family and students of Weill Cornell applauded. President Lehman went on to cite the dramatic changes in the world over the past decade—scientific, sociological, geopolitical—that have had "a significant impact on clinical medicine and research."
Virginia Cox, student speaker representing the Graduate School of Medical Sciences, echoed President Lehman's sentiments, going on to discuss the importance of biomedical research. "We are entering the workforce as Ph.D.s or M.D.s at an exciting time in history," said Cox. "Recent advances in sequencing the human genome and computational biology are making individualized diagnosis for diseases like cancer and genetic disorders a reality."
President Lehman applauds the graduating Class of 2004.
Cox highlighted progress in three areas in particular. "In the past five years, advances in stem cell biology, microarray technology and epigenetic regulation of heritable disease have paved the way for new insights of the regulation of normal biological processes and how their misregulation leads to disease," said Cox. "As graduates of the Weill Medical College and Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University, it is our responsibility to take an active interest in the funding of biomedical research. Remember that with this great accomplishment today comes a great responsibility—a responsibility to ensure that new and innovative research, such as the advances I've discussed, continues to be funded in the United States—and to educate the public and to maintain America's position at the forefront of biomedical research in the years to come."
Members of the new generation of physicians have reason to celebrate.
Before the administration of the Hippocratic Oath, Michael Pfeffer, representing the Medical College graduating Class of 2004 and its president for the past four years, took his place at the podium to speak to his fellow students. "Today marks our collective transition from being students to being physicians; or, perhaps more importantly, as our parents would agree, our transition from being unemployed to employed," said Pfeffer.
Recounting his early days at Weill Cornell, Pfeffer told the story of his first patient encounter. "I then nervously proceeded to check the patient's pulse," he said. "Though I had difficulty finding it, the fact that she was walking around was convincing evidence that her heart was indeed beating. After four years at Weill Cornell, checking vital signs has become routine and talking with patients has become exciting rather than nerve-racking. Our journey through medical school has been an opportunity for us to equip ourselves with the tools we need to be great physicians. There were three main factors which enabled us to obtain these tools: the curriculum and faculty, our families and friends, and our classmates.
Scenes from the momentous day.
"The energy of the Class of 2004 is astonishing," Pfeffer continued. "Members of our class took helping and teaching to new heights outside of the classroom. Our classmates have traversed the globe in search of ways to enhance their education, stopping in Brazil, Cuba, India, Tanzania and even the state of Rhode Island, just to name a few. The varied accomplishments of the Class of 2004, both academic and extracurricular, culminated in an extraordinary residency match. I am in awe of the possibilities that each of you will entertain, and the many achievements that you will no doubt accomplish in the years to come.
"As medical school draws to a close, we take with us the tools we have collected from our faculty, family and classmates," said Pfeffer. "We will use them throughout our medical careers, and today, we are ready to trade in our short white coats for long ones as we become part of the new generation of physicians in this country. Congratulations, Class of 2004, on an extraordinary accomplishment and an unforgettable journey!"
Scenes from the momentous day.
Doctors of Medicine: Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Shantanu Kumar Agrawal §
Sahar Ahmad
Elizabeth Lauren Alexander
Cheryl Sladkin Altschuler*
Joseph L. Amprey, III+
Nimmi Kapoor Arora* §
James Frederick Bartscher
John Paul Borrego
Kelly V. Brogan
Samantha Jene Hee Chai
Sidney Chang°
Elaine Yee Tak Cheng*
Henry Hsinzong Cheng
Jennifer Eun Sun Cho
Mark Chrostowski
Georgia Molly Close
Paul Cohen+
Devorah Catherine Daley
Rachel Susanna Darken+
Glen Priester Davis
Elizabeth Sims Dawson
Jennifer Alzos Downs*
Dainius Albertas Drukteinis
Maria Elena Duda
Jamie Winderbaum Fernandez
Paul Feuerstadt
Jared N. Finkell
Jenice M.L. Forde
Justin Frederick Fraser
Debbie Friedman+
Jennifer Meiyin Fu*
Janna Salant Gordon-Elliott
Edward David Greenberg* §
Eric R. Griffiths*
Scenes from the momentous day.
Cary Sidlett Gunther+
David Justin Halpern
Holly Lynn Hanson* §
Catherine Lynn Harrison-Restelli
Adam Hernandez
Michal Hertz
Richard Hong
Zirka Horochiwsky §
Duncan B. Hughes
Tali Lando Kassenoff §
Brian Kim
Sara Kless-Siegel
Du H. Lam
Claude-Jean Langevin*
Timothy Lee
Flora Fisher Levin
Adam D. Libow
Amy W. Lin §
Dania Judith Lindenberg*
Gholson James Lyon+
Gigi Renee Madore* §
Ron Margolis §
Daniel T. McMenamin
Marc Andrew Meyer
Raakhi Mohan
Kenji Wong Morimoto
Paul Christopher Mullan
Kiran Musunuru+
Edward J. Nejat
Casey Ki Chi Ng
Thomas Binh Nguyen+
Damilola Ogunnaike
Elizabeth C. Ortiz
Gabriel Martin Ortiz+
Lilly-Rose Paraskevas §
Kavita Hasmukh Parikh
Tae Keun Park
Michael Adam Pfeffer
Laura Maria Polania
Kimble Poon
Simone P. Porter
Lukshmi Kamat Puttanniah*
Mariah A. Quinn*
Daniela Yasaman Rafii
Dara Folami Miley Raspberry
René J. Rivera
Scenes from the momentous day.
Frederick Clapp Roediger*
Jessica Ann Roman
Daniel R. Rosell+
Misha Aaron Rosenbach*
Marina Rozenberg*
Alexander Ryzhikov
Jessica Lea Sanchez
Sonali Sharma
Atara Stember Stahl
Peter Jeffry Stahl
Heather Clarie Tauschek*
Sarmela Thevarajah
Christopher W. Towe
Mark Abraham Travassos
Artur Treyster
Michael David Tseng
Kalliope Tsirilakis
Sara Tuttle
Angel A. Wang
Frank Wang
Lillian Wang
Douglas Matthew Weine
Melanie Tanara Wilson-Taylor
Tawana Keisha Winkfield
Andrew Wong
Daniel Yadegar
Edward Yang+
Felix Yang
Hua-yin Yu
Natalie Maryanovsky-Zelenko
Wenyong W. Zhang+
Michael Pfeffer spoke on behalf of his Medical College classmates.
* Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society/with Academic Distinction
§ with Honors in Research
+ Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program Graduate
Doctors of Philosophy: Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences
John Baxter Biggins
Leslie Ann Castelo-Soccio
Catherine Rogers Chesnutt
Eva Janet Chmielnicki
Virginia Taylor Cox
Robert James Debellis
Chunling Gong
Gang Hao
Constance Hsia
Wei Huang
Yihua Huang
Richard Clarence Huard
Yun Jiang
Thomas James Kash
Kristine Ann Kelly
Michael Hansoo Keyoung
Sunjung Kim
Monica Ann Kolinsky
Mona Duh-Wei Lee
Jack Chia-Fun Liao
Onn Wolf Lindwasser
Tatiana N. Litvin
Pellegrino G. Magro
Thomas Binh Nguyen
Virginia Cox addressed the importance of the graduates' role in advancing medical science.
Iaroslava Rouzankina
Brian Joseph Ruscito
Angelo Joseph Russo
Marianna B. Ruzinova
Rana Sawaya
Lijian Shen
Nancy Elizabeth Skacel
Alexis Tapanes-Castillo
Emi Torigoi
Eduardo M. Torres
Juliana Hang Xu
Photos by Janet Charles and Amelia Panico.