Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to Grads: Love Is the World’s Oldest Medicine

 Dr. Vivek Murthy’s first swearing in as 19th Surgeon General with then Vice President Joe Biden at Ft. Myer,in Conmy Hall on the Fort Myer portion of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall,

On May 16, 2021, Vice Admiral Dr. Vivek Murthy gave a heartfelt and humble commencement address to the 331 graduate students and 208 undergraduate students who make up the UC Berkeley School of Public Health class of 2021.

Murthy, who is both the 19th and 21st surgeon general of the United States, is a passionate believer in the power of public health to change lives and communities. He’s devoted his career to tackling some of the nation’s most urgent health issues, including addiction, the lack of safe and walkable communities, and the loneliness epidemic.

He is also the vice admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, where he commands a uniformed service of 6,600 public health officers, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations in over 800 locations domestically and abroad. This public health corps has protected the nation from Ebola and Zika and responded to the Flint water crisis, major hurricanes, and frequent health care shortages in rural communities.

At the Berkeley Public Health commencement ceremony, Murthy addressed a virtual crowd of thousands, and told the graduates that their biggest superpower as public health heroes is their love of humanity.

“I know you didn’t expect your education in public health to be disrupted by, by all things, a public health emergency,” Murthy began.

“When you got your Berkeley blue acceptance folder and made the decision to enroll in the program,” he said. “I’m guessing there were some relatives, some friends, who said, ‘Oh a degree in public health, so what are you going to do with that?’ But I think it’s safe to say now those friends and relatives understand what public health is. After more than a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, never have more people understood terms like herd immunity or R0 values or epidemiology.”