Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, will deliver the keynote address at Roger Williams University’s commencement ceremony, the Rhode Island school announced Monday.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, will also receive an honorary degree at the May 20 exercise, the school said.
“The ability to synthesize vast amounts of information and to make decisions that consider health, science, cultural, legal and political implications, is the type of education we strive to offer our students,” school President Ioannis N. Miaoulis said in a statement. “Dr. Fauci’s experience throughout his career, but especially over the last two years, has modeled how to do this exceptionally well and provides a real-world example to our students as they enter a complex world.”
Public health is one of the universy’s fastest growing undergraduate majors, the school said.
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Fauci has advised seven Presidents on a variety of domestic and global health issues from HIV/AIDS to the coronavirus, and has been director of the NIAID since 1984.
Roger Williams, a private school with about 6,500 students, has campuses in Bristol and Providence.
