36 students receive Ph.D.s at Rockefeller’s 65th convocation

On June 1, thirty-six students strode across the Caspary Hall stage to receive their Ph.D.s in areas spanning the breadth of biomedical research. Tim Stearns, dean of graduate and postgraduate studies, presided over ceremonies that began with a luncheon in the Great Hall of Welch Hall followed by a procession accompanied by a six-piece brass band.

“I am in awe of the combined scientific excellence and insightfulness of these young scientists,” says Stearns, who became dean in 2022. “Despite the many challenges they’ve faced, these students have continued onward, chiseling away at the mysteries of everything from the world’s most intractable diseases to fundamental questions in neuroscience. It is a privilege to celebrate their achievements, and I look forward to following their careers in the future.”

This year’s graduates are Nneoma Adaku, Megan Elizabeth Kelley, Daniel Poston, Renan Eduardo Aparicio, Claire Therese Kenney, Nicholas Cameron Poulton, Tatsuya Araki, Sam Khodursky, Christina Pressl, Barbara Bosch, Charles Gunnar Kinzig, David R. Requena Anicama, Victor Chen, Ilana B. Kotliar, Christopher Rouya, Christopher Cowley, Brandon Malone, Christian Saffran, Aaron K. Gupta, Jason Manley, Andrew Siliciano, Taylor Eco Hart, Jordan M. Mattheisen, Andrew Toader, Tom Hindmarsh Sten, Peter Mussells Pires, Jazz L. Weisman, Geena Rose Ianni, Tuan Nguyen, Johannes Weymar, Anoj Ilanges, Agata Lemiesz Patriotis, Andrew Wong, Kevin Kao, Harlan Linver Pietz, and Eric Bo Zheng.

During the ceremony, honorary degrees were awarded to Ingrid Daubechies of Duke University, a mathematician who conducted groundbreaking work in signal processing; Marc W. Kirschner of Harvard Medical School, who is known for several major discoveries in cell biology; and Evelyn G. Lipper, a Trustee Emerita of The Rockefeller University whose long-time support helped expand Rockefeller’s capabilities in structural biology.