WASHINGTON (May 14, 2026) —At the Milken Institute School of Public Health’s 2026 School Celebration, alumna and national public health leader Dr. Joneigh Khaldun returned to campus to deliver a keynote address centered on service, resilience, and humanity in public health.
Khaldun, who earned her Master of Public Health from GW in 2013, reflected on the winding path that led her from emergency medicine into public health leadership. She described how witnessing preventable suffering in emergency rooms pushed her to pursue systemic change through policy and population health work.
“I wanted to change the system, and treat the policies that were making my patients sick,” she told graduates.
Now president and CEO of the Public Health Accreditation Board, Khaldun has held leadership roles across local, state, and national public health systems. She previously served as executive director of the Detroit Health Department, Michigan’s first chief medical executive during the COVID-19 pandemic, and chief health equity officer at CVS Health. She was also appointed by President Biden to the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force.
Throughout her remarks, Khaldun acknowledged the difficult landscape facing today’s graduates, including declining vaccination rates, widening mistrust in institutions, persistent health inequities, and cuts to public health infrastructure. But she urged graduates not to lose hope.
Quoting Marge Piercy’s poem To Be of Use, Khaldun described public health professionals as people who “move things forward” through persistence and service, even in difficult moments. “The struggle is exactly what those of us in public health are built for,” she said. “We run towards problems, and we figure out a way to solve them.”
Khaldun shared stories from across her career — from treating gun violence victims as a medical student to leading statewide COVID-19 response efforts in Michigan — emphasizing that “being useful” can take many forms over a lifetime. Sometimes, she said, leadership means stepping aside and allowing trusted community members and colleagues to lead.
She also reflected personally on her mother’s recent critical illness, describing how the experience challenged her understanding of usefulness and control. “There are seasons and reasons for usefulness,” she told graduates. “The way that you thought you could be useful has changed.”
Khaldun closed by encouraging graduates to define success not by titles or recognition, but by service to others and a commitment to improving health outcomes. “As long as there are humans, there will be a need for you,” she said. “Always chase your ability to be of use.”
-GW-