Congratulations to all our University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing students who are graduating today. Also, congratulations to the parents, partners, family, and friends who have supported and nurtured the graduates, enabling and facilitating their success. This commencement honors all that you have accomplished throughout the program and celebrates your continuous passion and commitment for nursing and your future leadership and contributions to nursing. This cohort of students is unique because they needed to go through the rigorous training process even during the unforeseen COVID-19 pandemic. All have succeeded and are standing here to celebrate their accomplishments. I am very proud of all of you!

Our School of Nursing includes an excellent and strong community of outstanding students, deeply dedicated faculty and staff , and highly supportive alumni and friends. Our community is committed to addressing signifi cant local, national, and global health care challenges through education, research, and service.

As a part of this extraordinary University of Texas community, you have learned to lead and make promising changes in Texas and beyond with necessary competencies, compassion, and integrity. We are very proud that we had the opportunity to educate you—future nurse leaders—who will not only make an impact in the State of Texas but also in the world.

I am highly excited about all the promising changes that you will bring to the nursing profession, and I am also deeply impressed with all the intellectual commitment and life experience that you will bring to the delivery of health care. This outstanding community of yours will always be here to support and celebrate your future journey and accomplishments.

Congratulations again. Hook’em, Horns!

Eun-Ok Im, PhD, MPH, RN, CNS, FAAN
Dean
Professor and Laura Lee Blanton Chair in Nursing

Dr. Pamela Cipriano, an internationally recognized nursing leader, is the 29th President of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and a Professor at the University of Virginia’s School of Nursing and Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy in Charlottesville, VA. She previously served as Dean of the UVA School of Nursing, ICN’s First Vice President, and two terms as the president of the American Nurses Association. She also has extensive expe-rience as an academic medical center executive with a focus on improving the quality and safety of service delivery and the work environment.

Dr. Cipriano is well known in the United States and internationally, as a strong advocate for the nursing profession. During her 40-plus-year career, she has led efforts to advance the role and visibility of nurses and increase nursing’s impact and influence on policy. She currently is Co-Chair of the UHC2030 Steering Committee, a multi-stakeholder platform for advancing actions to achieve universal health coverage and strengthen health systems at global and country levels worldwide.

Dr. Cipriano is also a Co-Chair of the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience, which aims to prevent burnout and improve the physical and mental health and well-being of all cli-nicians. Among her many honors and awards for exceptional leadership and contributions to the profession, she was the 2010-2011 Distinguished Nurse Scholar-in-Residence at the Institute of Medicine, received the American Academy of Nursing’s Healthcare Leader Award in 2018, and was named as a Living Legend in 2023.