On Saturday, May 9, Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health celebrated its 2026 graduating class. More than 400 graduates gathered with their loved ones at Gas South Arena in Duluth, GA, to be recognized for their achievements and officially earn their degrees.
This year, the school awarded 463 MPH and MSPH degrees and 39 PhD degrees. Members of the graduating class came to Rollins from 35 states across the U.S. and 26 countries. The youngest graduate this year was 21, and the oldest was 68. These new grads will join a network of over 13,000 Rollins alumni.
In her opening remarks at Saturday’s ceremony, Dean Daniele Fallin, PhD, reflected on the ways in which Rollins graduates are prepared to enter the public health workforce, even in turbulent times.
“In public health, we are scrappy and fearless,” she said. “Setbacks are part of our game. We must keep pushing, using disappointments and being told “no” as opportunities to find different routes. This is perseverance, and it’s a critical skill in public health.”
“With your creativity, curiosity, and perseverance, good science will continue to break through and help others…Your career is needed now more than ever, and you will reshape and rebuild public health in the years and decades to come.”
Finding Power and Strength in Public Health
Debra Houry, MD, this year’s commencement speaker, shared why public health graduates are so important.
“You might be thinking, ‘Is this the right time to go into public health?’ It is precisely the right time,” she said. “When science is challenged, it needs steady voices. When evidence is questioned, it needs people who insist on rigor. And when the path forward feels uncertain, it needs leaders who will ground decisions in data, facts, and the health of our communities.”
2026 Commencement Speaker: Debra Houry, MD
“When science is challenged, it needs steady voices. When evidence is questioned, it needs people who insist on rigor. And when the path forward feels uncertain, it needs leaders who will ground decisions in data, facts, and the health of our communities.”
Houry also shared three essential lessons that Rollins graduates can take with them into their careers:
- Stay grounded in the communities you serve.
- Lean into your expertise and use it.
- Take good risks. Stand up for good science, even when it is not easy.
“Public health is one of the most powerful forces for improving human life,” said Houry. “It is the reason children live to adulthood. It is the reason communities recover from crises. It is the reason entire populations are safer, healthier, and more resilient. You chose the right field, and we need you now more than ever.”
Student speaker Ishani Bedre, who graduated with an MPH in Global Health, shared a similar sentiment. She urged her fellow graduates to hold onto the lessons learned during their time at Rollins when they feel hopeless, and to use those lessons to create change.
“Whether we leave here as epidemiologists, policy analysts, or researchers, what we carry with us is an understanding of the structures that determine who gets to be healthy, who gets to be safe, who gets to be seen, and who doesn’t,” said Bedre. “With that awareness, we hold undeniable power.”
2026 Student Speaker: Ishani Bedre
“Whether we leave here as epidemiologists, policy analysts, or researchers, what we carry with us is an understanding of the structures that determine who gets to be healthy, who gets to be safe, who gets to be seen, and who doesn’t. With that awareness, we hold undeniable power.”
Recognizing Achievement
Carmen Marsit, PhD, executive associate dean for faculty affairs and research strategy, recognized faculty, staff, and students who won school- and university-wide awards. Among them was the Rollins faculty member who won the 2026 Provost’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Education: Elizabeth Rhodes, PhD, assistant professor of global health.
Ifeyinwa Ejisoby-Nwosu received the Charles C. Shepard Award. This annual award is presented to a graduating master’s student who is deemed by faculty to have prepared the most scholarly research paper.
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