By Landon Hall
The hundreds of graduates who received their degrees during the UC Irvine Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences (COHS) commencement ceremony on Friday, June 13 received a special treat: a shared keynote address from the generous supporters whose names grace the college, Susan and Henry Samueli.
Their words of encouragement, praise and advice for the students gathered inside a packed Bren Events Center touched on the very aspects of the Anteater experience that led them to give to UC Irvine in the first place: its collaborative spirit, its willingness to adopt new ideas and technology, and its emphasis on transcending scientific disciplines to help people live healthier lives.
“You have been trained not just as practitioners, but as leaders and innovators. The future of health and healing is in your capable hands,” Susan Samueli said.
The UC Irvine Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute also bears her name, and she spoke with pride at how integrative health principles like acupuncture, culinary medicine and other evidence-based therapies are now “woven throughout the fabric” of the college and the UCI Health healthcare delivery system.
“When Henry and I first became involved with UC Irvine over 20 years ago, we had a vision of healthcare that went beyond just treating symptoms. We imagined a system that considered the whole person – body, mind and spirit – that leveraged the best of conventional medicine alongside evidence-based complementary therapies. That empowered patients to be active partners in their own well-being. I am proud to say that vision has become a reality here at UC Irvine.”
The Samuelis’ transformational $200 million gift in 2017 established the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, which includes the School of Medicine, the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health. Nursing became a school in 2017, pharmacy in 2020, and public health in 2024, demonstrating the spectacular growth of the university’s rise as an academic health system in recent years.
“Each of you is graduating with incredible knowledge and skills that have the power to change lives,” Susan Samueli said. “I urge you to use those gifts not just for your own success, but for the betterment of your communities. Volunteer. Mentor. Advocate for those whose voices often go unheard in our healthcare system.”
Each of you is graduating with incredible knowledge and skills that have the power to change lives. I urge you to use those gifts not just for your own success, but for the betterment of your communities. Volunteer. Mentor. Advocate for those whose voices often go unheard in our healthcare system.”
Susan Samueli
You have not just been trained in a single specialty: You have been immersed in a rich, collaborative environment that spans the health sciences, engineering, physical sciences and beyond. This interdisciplinary approach is … the key to solving real-world health challenges.
Henry Samueli
Henry Samueli, an electrical engineer, is the namesake donor of the schools of engineering at both UC Irvine and UCLA. He co-founded Broadcom in 1991, of which he remains chairman of the board, and he and Susan own the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. The couple also serve as co-chairs of the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences Advisory Board, and honorary co-chairs of UCI Health for the UC Irvine Brilliant Future fundraising campaign. Henry Samueli said it is an “incredibly exciting time in healthcare and biomedical research,” and that technological advances are “expanding access to care and empowering patients like never before.”
Receiving an education at UC Irvine has given the students a “distinct advantage,” he said. “You have not just been trained in a single specialty: You have been immersed in a rich, collaborative environment that spans the health sciences, engineering, physical sciences and beyond. … This interdisciplinary approach is not just an academic exercise; it is the key to solving real-world health challenges.”
“You are entering a healthcare landscape that is complex and rapidly evolving,” he added. “But I have no doubt that your time at UC Irvine has prepared you to not only navigate this landscape, but to transform it for the better.”
One by one, the students – dressed in gowns and mortar boards overflowing with flowers and creative designs – walked across the platform stage to receive their diplomas, greeted by their schools’ deans (Dr. Michael J. Stamos in the School of Medicine; Mark Lazenby in the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing; Jan Hirsch in the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Bernadette Boden-Albala in the Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health) and faculty members. A huge group of Wen Public Health grads paraded across, the first graduating class since the program was elevated to a school last summer. Family members and friends in the seats screamed at each name called.
Everyone in the arena had a final task before the festivities were completed: Dean Hirsch showed everyone how to make the Peter the Anteater hand sign (mainly for the families; the students already are well-practiced) and then led the chant: Zot! Zot! Zot!
Afterward, graduates celebrated and posed for photos, holding stuffed anteaters and bouquets. Arianne Silvestre, who’s from Acton, Calif., and has a new BA in public health policy, told us about the great energy and enthusiasm she and her classmates have as they go out into an industry that needs them. “Everyone in public health is so excited to get to work and put all of the information and knowledge that we’ve learned at UC Irvine into practice in the real world and help people,” she said.
TJ Golobic, who is from the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe and now has a BS in pharmaceutical sciences, said he intends to work in biotech research “to do drug discovery. I just liked the idea of doing science that helps people.” But he might return to UC Irvine for another degree down the road.
“Here would be a good option,” he said with a smile.
