While commencement will be delayed, graduates will receive their degrees on time and diplomas mailed in late June.
They will do so in a landscape changed by the healthcare crisis, but with a foundation of academic excellence, said Dr. Pollack. She most notably directed "Selma," "13th," and "A Wrinkle in Time."
“You’ve been trained in the distinctive culture of Weill Cornell Medicine – defined by the emphasis we place on academic excellence, independent thinking, collaboration and diversity. But while we can’t celebrate Commencement yet, we can still celebrate the Class of 2020—everything you have achieved in your time at Cornell,
Based on guidance from the Ithaca/Tompkins County Convention and Visitors Bureau, some hotels have indicated that they are transferring commencement reservations to the rescheduled dates or are processing refunds for guests who are unable to return for those dates in June 2021. Office of University Commencement Events B13 Day Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-2801 (607) 255-9541 commencement@cornell.edu Like more than half of Weill Cornell Medicine’s Class of 2020, Dr. Kevin Ackerman chose to graduate early to be of service to New York City’s healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic. “And as newly minted graduates of Cornell, you will be leaders in this effort. Cornell University announced in late April that award-winning director and civil rights activist Ava DuVernay will speak at the senior convocation on May 26. Choi and Barbara Hempstead, and Dr. Yoon Kang, senior associate dean for medical education, in remotely conferring degrees on students graduating from Weill Cornell Medical College and Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.In his address to the Class of 2020, Dr. Choi, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and provost for medical affairs of Cornell University, noted the unprecedented nature of this year’s graduation, and the opportunity it will afford graduates to have a lasting impact on medicine.“As graduates of Weill Cornell Medicine, you have the potential to transform medicine and science long after this pandemic has passed,” Dr. Choi said. Friday, May 22, 2020 Friday, May 28, 2021 Friday, May 27, 2022 Friday, May 26, 2023 Friday, May 24, 2024 Commencement 2020 Updates Cornell’s commencement weekend, scheduled for May 22-24, 2020, has been postponed. In a message to May 2020 graduates, President Pollack committed that a commencement ceremony will still be held in Ithaca for graduates and their families. By what you have learned and achieved during and before your time at Weill Cornell, and by everything you will do to care, to discover and to teach, throughout your careers.”With those burgeoning careers comes great responsibility, and the important role graduates will have in communicating the value of science to society – particularly now, said Dr. Hempstead, dean of the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.“You are also critically important to our country because you have become proficient in science communication,” Dr. Hempstead said. A year later, it could further that legacy as the first class to celebrate Commencement after the class behind it. After the quick transition to working in the field in April, he relished the opportunity Commencement afforded to mark the end of his medical education and reflect on why he chose medicine as his career. Last year, Cornell hosted Joe Biden, Penn’s 2013 commencement speaker. 2020 Commencement Speakers Pat (Fobare) Erickson and Jon Erickson graduated from North Country Community College in Saranac Lake in 1989. CornellCast brings you video and audio recordings of compelling lectures, discussions, and performances featuring members of the Cornell community and distinguished guests. You are leaders and innovators, full of integrity and ingenuity. The following weekend would celebrate the Class of 2020, whose on-campus Commencement – which had been scheduled for this past Memorial Day weekend – was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Barring another pandemic-induced change of schedule, the university plans to host back-to-back Commencements next spring with a quirk sure to entertain Cornell trivia buffs for years to come: The Class of 2021 will walk before the Class of 2020.The tentative plans were included in President Martha E. Pollack’s Under the revised academic calendar for 2020-21, students would start fall classes Sept. 2, then return home before Thanksgiving break to finish the term online. Office of University Commencement Events B13 Day Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-2801 (607) 255-9541 commencement@cornell.edu
Ackerman was among 390 students – 109 fellow medical doctors, 68 Ph.D.s, 39 physician assistants and 174 with Master of Science degrees – in the Class of 2020 who graduated from Weill Cornell Medicine on Thursday. Information Science Department ceremony will be announced after the University Commencement is scheduled. “You are, and you always will be, defined by your excellence.