Former Astronaut to Give Commencement Address

WHAT: Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) President Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D., and Steven L. Berk, M.D., TTUHSC executive vice president, provost and dean of the School of Medicine, will preside over the school’s commencement ceremony with 135 students receiving their medical doctor degrees.

 WHEN: 1 p.m. Monday (May 19)

WHERE: Civic Center Theatre, 1501 Mac Davis Lane

EVENT: Bernard A. Harris Jr., M.D., astronaut, entrepreneur and president of the Harris Foundation, will give the commencement address. Harris, a graduate of the TTUHSC School of Medicine, was at NASA for 10 years. Harris was a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-55/Spacelab D-2 in 1993. As payload commander on Space Shuttle Discovery STS-63 in 1995, he served on the first flight of the joint Russian-American Space Program, becoming the first African American to walk in Space. As a veteran astronaut, he has logged more than 438 hours and traveled more than 7.2 million miles in space.

Harris is the chief executive officer and managing partner of Vesalius Ventures Inc., a venture capital firm, that invest in early to mid-stage health care technologies and companies. He also is the founder of the Harris Foundation, a non profit organization that supports math/science education and crime prevention programs for America's youth.

A live stream of the commencement ceremony will be available at  www.ttu.edu/livestream.

 For more breaking news and experts, follow @ttuhscnews on Twitter.

Related Stories

A Rite of Passage for Next Generation of Physicians

Students in TTUHSC's School of Medicine Class of 2028 received their first white coat and pledged their commitment to the medical profession at the White Coat Ceremony Friday (July 26) at the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

As spring approaches, some people’s thoughts turn to gardening. Whether it’s a flower garden they desire or a vegetable garden want to have, they begin planning what they’ll plant and what they need to do to ensure a successful garden.

Adopt a Growth Mindset for a Better Life

A “growth mindset” accepts that our intelligence and talents can develop over time, and a person with that mindset understands that intelligence and talents can improve through effort and learning.

Recent Stories

Education

TTUHSC’s Santos Inducted into the American College of Surgeons Academy of Master Surgeon Educators®

Ariel Santos, M.D., a trauma and critical care surgeon and interim chair for the Department of Surgery at TTUHSC, was inducted into membership in the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators® Sept. 27 in Chicago.

Education

Hidden Heroes of Health Care: Supporting a Shortage of Molecular Genetic Technologists

A Molecular Genetic Technologist is a qualified technologist (by an academic or applied education) that is able to perform testing on human samples for inherited diseases, acquired diseases and infectious diseases.

Research

TARCC, AHA Grants to Aide TTUHSC Researcher

Murali Vijayan, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at TTUHSC, has been awarded a research grant from the Texas Alzheimer’s Research and Care Consortium to investigate the role of Voltage-Dependent Anion Channel 1 in Alzheimer’s disease.