CLOSE MENU
CUNY SPH is pleased to announce that Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, United States Surgeon General, will deliver the keynote address at the school’s spring commencement on June 2, 2022 and will receive an Honorary Doctor of Science in Public Health degree.
Dr. Dave Chokshi, former Health Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, will be presented with the Public Health Champion Award and address graduates at the ceremony.
Dr. Vivek H. Murthy was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March 2021 to serve as the 21st Surgeon General of the United States. He previously served as the 19th Surgeon General under President Obama.
As the Nation’s Doctor, the Surgeon General’s mission is to help lay the foundation for a healthier country, relying on the best scientific information available to provide clear, consistent, and equitable guidance and resources for the public.
As the Vice Admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Dr. Murthy also commands a uniformed service of over 6,000 dedicated public health officers, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations.
The first Surgeon General of Indian descent, Dr. Murthy was raised in Miami and is a graduate of Harvard, the Yale School of Medicine, and the Yale School of Management. A renowned physician, research scientist, entrepreneur, author, and mango aficionado, he lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Dr. Alice Chen, and their two children.
Dave A. Chokshi, MD, MSc, FACP was the 43rd Commissioner at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, one of the leading health agencies in the world. He led the City’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including its historic campaign to vaccinate over 6 million New Yorkers, saving tens of thousands of lives. Dr. Chokshi architected treatment strategies, navigated school and economic reopenings, and served as principal public spokesperson.
From 2014-2020, Dr. Chokshi served in leadership roles at NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H), including as its inaugural Chief Population Health Officer, where he built an award-winning team dedicated to transforming the largest public health care system in the country. He has been a practicing primary care internist at Bellevue Hospital since 2014 and is also Clinical Professor of Population Health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Previously, Dr. Chokshi served as a White House Fellow at the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, where he was the principal health advisor in the Office of the Secretary. His prior work experience spans the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. In 2016, President Obama appointed him to the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health.
He trained in internal medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and was a clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School. He received his M.D. with Alpha Omega Alpha distinction from Penn. He also earned an MSc in global public health as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, and graduated summa cum laude from Duke.
For more information about the 2022 CUNY SPH Commencement, please visit our commencement information page here.
