Rockefeller’s 58th Convocation ceremony in pictures

At Rockefeller University’s first Convocation in 1959, there were five graduates. Fifty-seven years later, as of Convocation on June 9, 2016, there are now 1,209 recipients of the Rockefeller University doctor of philosophy degree.

The day’s festivities began with a graduate luncheon in the Great Hall of Welch Hall, followed by Rockefeller’s traditional cap-and-gown procession of students and mentors across campus to the degree-granting ceremony in Caspary Auditorium. The graduates and their families gathered afterward at a campus celebration at the Peggy Rockefeller Plaza.

The 31 graduates of the class of 2016 come from 14 countries: Argentina, Armenia, China, Colombia, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Taiwan, and the United States. Twenty-three Rockefeller labs were represented by the graduates, six of whom are members of the Tri-Institutional M.D.-Ph.D. program and will continue on to medical school. Others will begin careers in academia, industry, or other fields.

View more photos from the event and read the faculty members’ tributes to their students.