One thing every graduate can anticipate after commencement, said Victor J. Dzau, a distinguished physician and medical researcher, is change.
“The world you’re stepping into is anything but static. If there’s one thing we can count on, it’s change — persistent, rapid, challenging, exciting, but often unpredictable,” he said.
President of the National Academy of Medicine, Dzau is the first person of color and first immigrant to lead one of the three academies that make up the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
On May 2, he delivered the keynote address at the Crisler Center to those receiving master’s and doctoral degrees. He will also be awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from U-M on May 3 during the Spring Commencement ceremony at Michigan Stadium.
To illustrate how much the world has changed in just the past few years, Dzau pointed to the fact that when the graduates first applied to graduate school, they’d likely not heard of ChatGPT — and now it’s become an inescapable part of education and research. He joked he’d even used it to help write his speech.
He then commended the students for their resilience amid constant change.
“Many of you began your graduate journeys in a time of extraordinary upheaval — navigating a global pandemic, confronting a world grappling with questions of justice, identity and belonging. Still, you pushed forward. You didn’t just endure — you evolved,” he said.
Change can shape you in ways you cannot yet imagine, he said.
As a boy, Dzau’s family fled Communist China and had to live under extreme circumstances, where Dzau witnessed poverty, malnutrition and widespread illness. That difficult experience motivated him to pursue a career in medicine.
“Because no matter how hard or bad things could be, my eyes and your eyes should always be opened to what is possible,” he said.
“I’ve seen how improving people’s living conditions could transform lives.”
The Chinese word for “crisis,” he said is composed of two characters — one for danger and one for opportunity.
“Indeed, the most intimidating changes in our lives often hold the greatest potential for growth,” said Dzau, adding that during his own journey, transitioning from faculty to physician to scientist to administrator brought both difficulty and development.
To navigate change successfully, Dzau said you must anchor yourself to something that doesn’t change — your purpose or your own personal “why.”
“Purpose can be quiet or bold, personal or global — but what matters is that it feels true to you.”
For Dzau, his purpose has always been a commitment to service, and early in his career, that took him to the research lab.
“I was driven to do research that could uncover new treatments for heart disease. I was fortunate to contribute to the development of a class of drugs known as ACE inhibitors, which have gone on to save millions of lives.”
Later, that purpose guided him to clinical care and leadership.
“I felt called to use my energy — and my experience — to champion global health equity, to help ensure that the poor and the underprivileged get a fair shot at a healthy life. “
In his parting message, Dzau shared words from Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist who said, “Those who have a ‘why’ to live for can bear almost any ‘how.’”
President Santa J. Ono also addressed the graduates, reminding them that their years at U-M cemented their place in the university community.
“You are forever joined in the maize and blue, in our storied and our sacred traditions,” he said.
“Most of all, as from the first day you walked onto this campus, whether it was Central Campus or North Campus or somewhere else where your research might take you, together we will share a lifelong connection — a commitment to service, to leadership, to excellence and achievement, a commitment to a dream that’s embodied in every aspect of this great university, to providing an uncommon education to the common person. We should be proud to be a great research university and a public university.”
Rackham Graduate School Dean Michael Solomon shared a story about a former Ph.D. candidate who was using a microscope to create patterns with particles 1/100 the size of a human hair.
When she told Solomon she’d finally perfected her technique, he responded with skepticism, saying, “Well, if that’s true, you could make a microscopic block M the width of a human hair.” She did, then captured the microscopic block M on video — and uploaded it to the internet. To date, that video has garnered 129,000 views on YouTube.
“I imagine many of you students have had similar moments of success — and perhaps even proved your professor wrong along the way. Whatever your discipline or approach, I hope you take pride in yourselves for such moments to the same degree that you have impressed us all as your faculty,” Solomon said.
Other members of the U-M community who spoke at the event included Provost Laurie McCauley, SACUA Vice Chair Heather O’Malley, and graduating U-M doctoral students Sauda Nabukenya and Antara Das Green.
