Honorary Degree Recipient
Reshma Kewalramani
Doctor of Science (Commencement Speaker)
Photo by Dina Rudick, Anthem Multimedia
Reshma Kewalramani (CAS’98, CAMED’98) is chief executive officer and president of Fortune 500 global biotechnology company Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where she served as chief medical officer and executive vice president of Global Medicines Development and Medical Affairs before being named CEO in 2020.
Dr. Kewalramani trained in internal medicine and nephrology before entering the biopharmaceutical industry, where she has dedicated her career to discovering and developing new medicines.
Vertex has multiple approved therapies, including the first and only medicines that treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, the first and only CRISPR/Cas9-based therapy that holds the potential to cure sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia, and the first new non-opioid medicine to treat acute pain in decades. The company is also advancing a clinical-stage pipeline that represents best-in-class and/or first-in-class approaches in multiple disease areas and across multiple modalities including small molecule, mRNA, biologics, and cell and gene therapies.
Dr. Kewalramani completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and her fellowship in nephrology through the MGH/Brigham and Women’s Hospital combined program. A fellow of the American Society of Nephrology and an alumna of Harvard Business School’s General Management Program, in 1998 she earned her BA from our College of Arts & Sciences and her MD from our Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine.
Dr. Kewalramani has received numerous awards and worldwide recognition for her leadership and contributions to science and innovation, including being named to the prestigious TIME 100 Most Influential People list and the TIME 100 Health list, and selected as one of TIME’s Women of the Year in 2026. She has also been cited as one of Fortune’s Most Powerful People in Business and named one of Fierce Pharma’s Fiercest Women in Life Sciences.
Among her many accolades are the Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University and the Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine, the Committee for Economic Development Distinguished Leadership Award, and the International Institute of New England Golden Door Award.