Graduation Photo Gallery | Graduation Recording | Digital Graduation Program 

On Friday, June 13, the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health (DGH) proudly celebrated the graduation of 58 students from over 15 countries.  

These 58 graduates represented three doctoral and one master’s program: 

• 36 Master of Public Health in Global Health graduates 
• 4 Doctor of Global Health Leadership and Practice graduates 
• 7 Doctor of Pathobiology in Pathobiology graduates 
• 12 Doctor of Global Health Metrics & Implementation Science graduates 

Graduating into an environment that is hostile to public health, resilience was a key theme of this year’s celebration, with speakers highlighting the tools graduates developed during their programs that have prepared them to tackle and overcome today’s challenges.

With family members and friends attending in-person and virtually from across the globe, DGH Chair Heidi van Rooyen shared a powerful reminder of the African concept of “Ubuntu”, the idea that we are who we are because of others. She acknowledged the essential roles that faculty, staff, mentors, family, and friends played in each graduate’s journey, and emphasized how students themselves have left a lasting mark on the department. 

“You have made a difference at UW through founding student organizations like the international student success program, serving on our department DEI committee, and creating events to foster community,” she shared. “We are better for you passing through our doors and in our lives. We are better.” 

Celebrating Student Excellence

Every year, the Department of Global Health honors exceptional graduate students who demonstrate a strong commitment to the field of global health. Awardees are selected based on a combination of scholarly achievement and academic contribution to the field of public health, commitment to public health beyond their required academic research, and leadership in public health.

For each of these awards, students were selected from a pool of exceptionally qualified contenders, showcasing the innovative and passionate spirit of these future global health leaders.

• Outstanding Master’s Student: Brekken Selah Cogswell, MPH in Global Health 
• Outstanding PhD Student: Tessa Concepcion, PhD Global Health Metrics & Implementation Science 
• UW Three Minute Thesis Competition – Runner UP and People’s Choice Award: Grace Umutesi, PhD Global Health Metrics & Implementation Science 
• Husky 100: Morgan Christine Aurelio, MPH in Global Health  

“We are thrilled to recognize these students for their unique and impactful contributions as students in our department and as global health professionals,” shared van Rooyen.

Words of Wisdom from Leadership  

Working closely with our students throughout their programs, faculty and mentors have seen firsthand how they have risen to the occasion when confronted with difficult equations, roadblocks to their research, and funding challenges.  

Dr. Deepa Rao, Outgoing MPH Director, has been inspired by students’ response to the challenges facing our field: “And we all know in these difficult times in global health, there is one word that can get us through. Gandhi said long ago, ‘An eye for an eye makes a whole world blind.’ But my students taught me recently, we can always use love.” 

Dr. Keshet Ronen, incoming Director of the MPH Program, noted how this year’s cohort has been a source of hope in these trying times: “This has been a hard year for all of us, and it is has been a ray of light in this time to celebrate all that you are, all that you have achieved, and all the good that you will do in a world that so desperately needs it. Keep loving, keep learning, keep fighting.” 

Throughout the process of finding their leadership and practicum experiences, the hustle and grit of the DrGH graduates has left no doubt in the mind of Dr. Alison Drake, Program Director for the Doctor of Global Health Leadership and Practice Program, that they are prepared to overcome the challenges facing the field of public health. “I have complete faith that our students are well equipped to face this future and be leaders in the process of reimagining global health.” 

Graduate Reflections: Strength in Adversity  

Although each student speaker faced distinct challenges in their different programs, their speeches collectively struck a tone of resilience, conviction, and purpose, supporting a shared vision for the future of public health.  

MPH graduate Kokou Tighankpa opened with a passionate and urgent call to action: “We dreamed of a world where we could just prevent disease, but today, we must also fight for the right to do so,” Tighankpa shares. “Because of all these challenges, the world needs our dream to rewrite what is possible. The world needs our creativity to solve the unsolvable. The world needs our resilience when the road is long.”   

Kyle Daniels built on this momentum sharing her belief in the power of the training she and her cohort received in the Doctor of Global Health Leadership and Practice Program. Her confidence in navigating and shaping the future radiated through her voice and projected her message throughout the auditorium.   

“But here's what I do know, we are trained in the social determinants of health. Whatever we go on to do next, we will bring this lens with us into the rooms we enter. And when the recognition of the need for public health comes roaring back, as it will inevitably will, we will be ready to go because of the training we received here.” 

Brittany Williams brought a heartfelt and reflective tone, urging her Pathobiology peers to honor their perseverance through setbacks and reminding them that their endurance is as meaningful as their achievements: “And when the next hard thing comes, and it will, remember that we’ve done this before. We know how to struggle, how to adapt, how to rise. We know how to fail, but more importantly, we know how to overcome.” 

Supported by his in-laws who had traveled from Sudan to celebrate his achievements, Mohamed Tawfig Albirair, Implementation Science PhD graduate, closed the student reflections with a quote from a friend that graduates from all programs could relate with: “We are public health people. We are good at making order out of chaos.”  

In a year marked by uncertainty and unknowns, the strength, resilience, and passion of the global health graduates shone brightly throughout the celebration, leaving the audience with a sense of enduring purpose and hope for the future of global health.