{"id":264802,"date":"2026-05-15T11:46:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=264802"},"modified":"2026-05-15T11:46:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:46:39","slug":"a-letter-to-our-graduates-2","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2026\/a-letter-to-our-graduates-2\/","title":{"rendered":"A Letter to Our Graduates"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin is-style-text-over-image has-media has-media-focus-center-middle has-text-position-x-center has-text-position-y-top\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"3604\" height=\"1771\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2026\/05\/convocation-letter-banner.png\" class=\"\" alt=\"convocation-letter-banner\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/05\/convocation-letter-banner.png 3604w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/05\/convocation-letter-banner-636x313.png 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/05\/convocation-letter-banner-1024x503.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/05\/convocation-letter-banner-768x377.png 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/05\/convocation-letter-banner-1536x755.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/05\/convocation-letter-banner-2048x1006.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/05\/convocation-letter-banner-755x371.png 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/05\/convocation-letter-banner-1628x800.png 1628w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/05\/convocation-letter-banner-900x442.png 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/05\/convocation-letter-banner-1920x943.png 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/05\/convocation-letter-banner-1200x590.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3604px) 100vw, 3604px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">convocation<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA Letter to Our Graduates\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">In a note to the class of 2026, Dean Adnan Hyder celebrates new graduates&#8217; accomplishments and encourages them to remember the core values of public health.<br><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">May 15, 2026<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/adnan-hyder\/\">Adnan Hyder<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>Dear graduates,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Congratulations! You mark a wonderful achievement with your graduation, and all of us at BUSPH are proud of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You are graduating at a consequential moment for public health. Some may ask why anyone would choose this field right now? The answer is simple: the need is greater than ever. The work ahead of you is urgent, necessary, and deeply human. Public health expertise matters, and the world needs people who are trained, committed, and ready to serve for the health of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It has been a privilege to have you as part of our BUSPH community over these past months. It has been a pleasure to share in this part of your life\u2019s journey, and to help equip you with the knowledge, skills, and capacity to become strong public health leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you leave BUSPH, know that you remain part of this community forever. You are joining a network of more than 12,000 BUSPH alumni and more than 355,000 Boston University alumni around the world. Use that community. Stay connected to it. Draw on it as a source of support, opportunity, and purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each of you will define success in your own way. Some of you will change one life in a profound way, while others will change thousands. Some of you will teach, some will care for communities directly, some will lead organizations, and others will conduct research, write papers, shape policy, or speak in public forums. The methods will differ, but the purpose is shared: you will all change lives for the better, and that is success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, I hope you carry with you the values that brought so many of you to BUSPH: a commitment to social justice and equity. Wherever you go, and whatever part of public health you pursue, remember those from vulnerable populations and those who have less voice or no power\u2014that is your calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Congratulations again. We are proud of you, and we look forward to seeing the impact you will make locally, nationally and globally!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2026\/02\/Dean-Hyder-9Q1A2046-edit-circle-email-signature-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-261805\" width=\"142\" height=\"142\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/02\/Dean-Hyder-9Q1A2046-edit-circle-email-signature-2.png 300w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/02\/Dean-Hyder-9Q1A2046-edit-circle-email-signature-2-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2026\/02\/Dean-Hyder-9Q1A2046-edit-circle-email-signature-2-100x100.png 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 142px) 100vw, 142px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Warmly,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adnan Hyder, MD, MPH, PhD<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><meta charset=\"utf-8\"><em>Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor<\/em><br><em><strong>Boston University<\/strong> School of Public Health<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear graduates, Congratulations! You mark a wonderful achievement with your graduation, and all of us at BUSPH are proud of you. You are graduating at a consequential moment for public health. Some may ask why anyone would choose this field right now? The answer is simple: the need is greater than ever. The work ahead [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15205,"featured_media":264797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[1750,1272,3335],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3520,3527,3531],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/264802"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264802"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/264802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265220,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/264802\/revisions\/265220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264802"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=264802"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=264802"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=264802"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=264802"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=264802"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=264802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}