While Steven Chu may be a hard act to follow, the University is bringing in an esteemed member of another field for Meliora Weekend in 2010.
Sanjay Gupta, a renowned neurosurgeon and medical journalist, will deliver the keynote address on October 16 at the 10th annual celebration.
Meliora Weekend attracts students, alumni, faculty, family and friends with over 150 campus events. Former keynote speakers include U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper, former U.S. Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell and current U.S. Secretary of State and former U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton.
The University community may recognize Gupta from his presence on CNN as the senior correspondent for health and medicine. Shortly after joining the CNN news team in 2001, Gupta reported on the 9/11 attacks and on anthrax concerns. He went on to report live from Sri Lanka during the 2004 tsunami, and also as an embedded correspondent with the U.S. Navy’s medical unit during the war in Iraq.
Having seen and followed Gupta on CNN, UR freshman Urmila Sivagnanalingam hopes to be able to get tickets to his keynote address.
‘Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a great model not only in the news or media but as an individual who is deterministic and optimistic in tackling any challenges,” Sivagnanalingam said. ‘He has covered a wide array of health issues such as obesity and swine flu. He has even traveled to those countries severely affected by disaster such as Haiti.”
Sivagnanalingam recalls one story when Gupta was on site in Afghanistan helping with swine flu outbreaks. He was so enveloped in his medical treatment and news coverage that he got the flu.
Gupta earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan. A member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Council of Foreign Relations, Gupta currently resides on the staff in the department of neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine, where he still performs weekly surgeries.
During Meliora Weekend, Gupta will also speak at a private luncheon for select members of the George Eastman Circle and be part of a health care reform panel as part of the Presidential Symposium on Great Issues of the 21st Century.
Ostrander is a member of the class of 2013.
Information courtesy of UR Communications.
