Macalester College is pleased to announce that Dr. Anthony S. Fauci and Dr. Christine Grady will deliver the keynote address at the Class of 2026’s Commencement ceremony. They will also receive honorary degrees from Macalester.
“Drs. Fauci and Grady are giants in their fields and both of them have devoted their careers to improving human health around the globe,” said President Suzanne M. Rivera. “We are honored to welcome them to our campus as our 2026 Commencement speakers and delighted to celebrate their many contributions to science by awarding them honorary degrees.”
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci is one of the most influential physician-scientists in US history, known for his leadership in infectious disease research, public health, and science policy. He spent more than five decades working for the National Institutes of Health, and served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022.
Fauci also advised seven US presidents, receiving honors including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Science.
Fauci is married to distinguished bioethicist Dr. Christine Grady.
Trained as a nurse, philosopher, and ethicist, Grady has been instrumental in integrating ethical analysis into biomedical science across the US federal research system. She served for many years as chief of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center and was a board member of the international organization Public Responsibility in Medicine & Research (PRIM&R).
The Class of 2026’s Commencement ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. in the Leonard Center Field House. For more information, visit macalester.edu/commencement.
Photo of Dr. Fauci by Christopher Michel, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0