Milton Academy’s 49th Alumni War Memorial Lecture will take place the evening of Tuesday, November 29, and you’re invited. This year’s speaker is the United States Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy. In his role as America’s doctor, Dr. Murthy is responsible for communicating the best available scientific information to the public regarding ways to improve personal health and the health of the nation. He also oversees the operations of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps, comprised of approximately 6,700 uniformed health officers who serve in locations around the world to promote, protect, and advance the health and safety of our nation.
The War Memorial Lecture was established in 1922 to honor those Milton graduates who gave their lives in World War I, and the foundation brings to campus notable guests who have dedicated their careers to the responsibilities and opportunities connected to leadership in a democracy. Former War Memorial Lecturers include Franklin Delano Roosevelt, William Manchester, Maya Angelou, Robert Coles, Carlos Fuentes and Doris Kearns Goodwin. Dr. Murthy will deliver the 49th address.
Dr. Murthy has devoted himself to improving public health through service, clinical care, research, education and entrepreneurship. The son of immigrants from India, Dr. Murthy discovered a love for the art of healing early in his childhood while spending time in his father’s medical clinic in Miami, Florida. After attending Miami Palmetto Senior High School, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard, and his M.D. and M.B.A. from Yale. He completed his residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he later joined the faculty as an internal medicine physician and instructor. As a clinician-educator, Dr. Murthy has cared for thousands of patients and trained hundreds of residents and medical students.
In addition to clinical practice, Dr. Murthy has two decades of experience improving health in communities across the country and around the world. He co-founded VISIONS, an HIV/AIDS education program in India and the United States, which he led for eight years. As its president, he established ten chapters with hundreds of volunteers in both countries and grew the organization’s education programs to reach more than 45,000 youth. Dr. Murthy also co-founded the Swasthya project (“health and wellbeing” in Sanskrit), a community health partnership in rural India, to train women to be health providers and educators. During his five-year tenure with the organization, he established seed funding and helped expand research and direct care programs that reached tens of thousands of rural residents.
As a research scientist, Dr. Murthy has conducted laboratory research on vaccine development and studied the participation of women and minorities in clinical trials. His research findings have been published in Science, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Murthy is also a healthcare entrepreneur and innovator. He co-founded and chaired a successful software technology company, TrialNetworks, which improves research collaboration and enhances the efficiency of clinical trials around the world. In seven years, Dr. Murthy and his team took the company from conception to an international enterprise that powers dozens of clinical trials for over 50,000 patients in more than 75 countries. Dr. Murthy has also served as the president of Doctors for America, a non-profit organization with more than 16,000 physicians and medical students in all 50 states who work with patients and policymakers to build a high quality, affordable health system for all.
You will soon receive a formal invitation and event details for this year’s Alumni War Memorial Lecture, an event that includes students, faculty and Milton alumni, as well. We hope you can join us for this special evening.