Acting Surgeon General of U.S. is Western University of Health Sciences' Commencement Speaker
The nation’s top doctor, Rear Admiral Kenneth P. Moritsugu, MD, MPH,
acting Surgeon General of the United States, will speak on “”Medical Care,
Health Care and Health”” at the Commencement exercises for graduates of
Western University of Health Sciences’ colleges of Pharmacy and Osteopathic Medicine of the
Pacific at 2 p.m., Friday, May 31, at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Graduates of the university’s College of Graduate Nursing and
Health Professions will receive their diplomas at 9:30 that morning at
the convention center. Ed Tessier, downtown Pomona businessman,
redeveloper and member of the advisory committee for the university’s
Center for Disability Issues and the Health Professions, is the keynote
speaker for the morning ceremony. The title of his address is “”Let
Compassion Lead You.””
More than 435 students in the university’s advanced practice nursing,
physical therapy, osteopathic medicine, physician assistant studies and
pharmacy programs will receive their graduate degrees this year.
The university will confer honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees to
both Dr. Moritsugu and Tessier.
Dr. Moritsugu has been Acting Surgeon General since February 14 and was
Deputy Surgeon General since October 1998. As Acting Surgeon General he
oversees nearly 6,000 Commissioned Corps medical personnel of the U.S.
Public Health Service.
He has acted as a representative to numerous national health care agencies
and provided expertise to international organizations and governments,
including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Germany, Mexico and the Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands. He served as the official U.S. observer
to the Council of Europe’s Select Committee of Experts on the Impact of
the AIDS Epidemic on the Criminal Justice System in Strasbourg, France,
and as the representative to the 75th Anniversary of the Pan American
Health Board in Havana, Cuba.
Since 1994, Dr. Moritsugu has advocated for organ and tissue donation and
transplantation, participating in several national, regional and local
programs. He is a past member of the board of directors of the United
Network for Organ Sharing and of the board of trustees of the National
Kidney Foundation, among other organ donation organizations.
As an educator, Dr. Moritsugu is an adjunct professor of public health at
the George Washington University School of Health Sciences. He has spoken
and written extensively in many areas, including health professions
education, credentialing and quality assessment, international health,
health systems development, health care delivery to underserved
populations, emergency response, correctional health care, managed care,
HIV, health promotion/disease prevention, organ and tissue donation and
transplantation and, most recently, bioterrorism.
Dr. Moritsugu received his bachelor’s degree from the University of
Hawaii, his MD from the George Washington School of Medicine and a
master’s of public health in health administration and planning from UC
Berkeley.
Tessier, the keynote speaker for the morning Commencement ceremony, was
born and raised in the Pomona Valley and has been a leader in the
Disability Rights Movement for several years, organizing campaigns to
improve access to education, transportation and businesses. He worked
extensively on behalf of civil rights legislation, such as the landmark
Americans with Disabilities Act. Tessier also is an adjunct instructor in
the university’s Master of Science in Health Professions Education program
and is a member of the advisory committee for the university’s Center for
Disability Issues and the Health Professions.
He is a leading figure in the revitalization of downtown Pomona. He helped
plan and develop large portions of the Pomona Arts Colony, a thriving
neighborhood of artists, galleries, university projects and creative arts
companies. He also has championed several local and regional preservation
initiatives, such as the restoration of Pomona’s historic Fox Theater.
Tessier lectures widely on the arts, economic development, historic
preservation and civil rights.
He received his bachelor’s degree in urban sociology, summa cum laude,
from Pomona College.
The Pomona Concert Band, led by Conductor G. Stanton Selby, will perform
music for both Commencement ceremonies, including the
recessional, “”Fanfare and Grand March,”” written by Selby exclusively for
Western University.
