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The University of Tennessee Health Science Center Graduates 535

Health Care Professionals: 

Robert Waller, MD, President Emeritus of Mayo Clinic,

Is Commencement Speaker

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Memphis, Tenn. (May 6, 2008) – On Friday, May 30, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) will graduate 535 students.  The spring graduation ceremony will be held at 1:30 p.m. at FedEx Forum, 191 Beale Street.  Hershel P. Wall, MD, chancellor of UT Health Science Center, will preside over the ceremony.  David E. Millhorn, PhD, executive vice president for the University of Tennessee will confer the degrees. 

Robert Waller, MD, who led Mayo Clinic for 11 years, will offer the commencement address to the graduates and their families.  Dr. Waller is an ophthalmologist and alumnus of the UT College of Medicine, one of the six colleges within UT Health Science Center.  He joined Mayo Clinic as a consultant in 1970 and was named to the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees in 1978, serving in several leadership positions, including president and chief executive officer from 1988 through 1998.

Under Dr. Waller's leadership, Mayo Clinic launched Mayo Health System, a regional network of hospitals and clinics that now serves 30 communities in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin; grew from 838 doctors in 1984 to 2,174 doctors in 1998; cared for many more patients, increasing outpatient visits from 980,000 in 1984 to 3,680,000 in 1998, and doubled its investment in education and research.

Since 1999, Dr. Waller has been president emeritus of Mayo Clinic. Currently, he is a board council member for the National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality — an advisory group to the government entity called Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  He has also served as a board member for the Healthcare Leadership Council — a coalition of chief executives from health care organizations that advocates for improved health-care quality, affordability and accessibility.  He is also a former board member for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

The 535 graduates are from all six of the UT Health Science Center’s colleges: 109 from the College of Allied Health Sciences; 74 from the College of Dentistry; 38 from the College of Graduate Health Sciences; 150 from the College of Medicine; 43 from the College of Nursing, and 121 from the College of Pharmacy.

As the flagship statewide academic health system, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is focused on a four-tier mission of education, research, clinical care and public service, all in support of a single goal: to improve the health of Tennesseans.  Offering a broad range of postgraduate training opportunities, the main campus is located in Memphis and includes six colleges: Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy.  UTHSC has additional College of Medicine and College of Pharmacy campuses in Knoxville and a College of Medicine campus in Chattanooga.  For more information, visit www.uthsc.edu.

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