May 13, 2020—Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s graduation ceremony will be held online May 28.
Speakers will include:
Keynote address: Muhammad Ali Pate
Muhammad Ali Pate, global director of the Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice at the World Bank, director of the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents, and the Julio Frenk Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard Chan School.
A U.S. and Nigerian national, Pate was until recently the chief executive officer of Big Win Philanthropy, based in the UK. He formerly served as minister of state for health in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
After joining the World Bank Group in 2000, Pate worked on health issues in several regions including Africa and East Asia and the Pacific. In his contributions to the World Economic Forum and the World Bank Group, he has worked with some of the countries most affected by HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and has led programs that resulted in significant changes to health care systems and disease control around the world.
Pate is an MD trained in both internal medicine and infectious diseases. He has a Masters in health system management from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and an MBA with a certificate in health sector management from Duke University.
Student speaker: Nadhira Nuraini Afifa
Nadhira Nuraini Afifa is receiving a master of public health degree from the Department of Global Health and Population. Nadhira joined the nutrition concentration, where she was involved in several projects related to malnourished children, especially stunting in low- and middle-income countries. Earlier this year, she had the opportunity to visit Tanzania to work on malnutrition issues among in-school adolescents in the city of Dodoma, along with several other Harvard students.
Nadhira grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia, and received her MD degree cum laude from Universitas Indonesia. She previously served as a general practitioner in rural West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, where she worked on multidimensional issues, from child nutrition to poverty. Outside of her academic world, Nadhira writes for a variety of newspapers and serves as one of the writers for Harvard Chan’s Voices in Leadership series. After graduation, Nadhira will be based in Jakarta to help the Indonesian government address several public health challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic. She believes that her “mixed” experience working both as a clinician and a public health professional will uniquely position her to contribute to the future vibrant development of Indonesia.
Also speaking will be Dean Michelle Williams, Alumni Association President Carmon Davis, Jane Kim, dean for academic affairs, and Robin Glover, associate dean for student services.