By Lin Lofley

William H. McRaven, who became the 11th Chancellor of the UT System in January, will deliver the commencement address when UT Southwestern Medical Center honors the 2015 graduates of the Medical School.

The medical school ceremony will be held at 7:30 p.m., May 27, in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House in the Arts District of downtown Dallas.

Degrees will be conferred upon 242 medical students by Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, President of UT Southwestern.

Chancellor McRaven, who spent 37 years as a Navy SEAL, became Chancellor of the UT System after retiring from military service as a four-star admiral.

His last assignment with the Navy was Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, during which time he led a force of 69,000 men and women with an annual budget of more than $10 billion. As leader of Special Operations, McRaven was responsible for conducting counter-terrorism operations worldwide, as well as building reliable military partners through programs that stressed the rule of law, universal rights, civil liberties, and military professionalism.

Chancellor McRaven also is a recognized national authority on U.S. foreign policy and has advised the president, secretary of defense, secretary of state, secretary of homeland security and other U.S. leaders on defense issues. He has worked extensively with leaders on Capitol Hill, and as a three- and four-star admiral, he was routinely involved in national policy decisions during the presidential administrations of George W. Bush and of Barack Obama.

Dr. Jim Walton, President of the Dallas County Medical Society, will administer the Physician’s Oath.

Former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a trustee of the Southwestern Medical Foundation, will present the Ho Din Award – the top award given to a graduating medical student – to Dr. Laurie Seidel.

Medical school marshals, selected by the graduating class, are Dr. Mark A. Agostini, Associate Professor of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics; Dr. James F. Amatruda, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Molecular Biology, and Pediatrics; Dr. Dennis K. Burns, Professor of Pathology; Dr. David E. Greenberg, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, and Microbiology; Dr. Angela P. Mihalic, Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Professor of Pediatrics; and Dr. James M. Wagner, Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Professor of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Amatruda holds the Nearburg Family Professorship in Pediatric Oncology Research, and is a Horchow Family Scholar in Pediatrics.

Dr. Burns holds the Jane B. and Edwin P. Jenevein, M.D., Chair in Pathology.

Dr. Podolsky holds the Philip O'Bryan Montgomery, Jr., M.D. Distinguished Presidential Chair in Academic Administration, and the Doris and Bryan Wildenthal Distinguished Chair in Medical Science.