Abraham Verghese, physician and best-selling novelist, appointed Commencement speaker

Abraham Verghese, acclaimed writer, Stanford educator, and specialist in infectious diseases, will serve as the principal speaker at Harvard’s 374th Commencement on May 29.

“Throughout his illustrious career, Dr. Abraham Verghese has pursued his diverse interests to forge a distinct career characterized by remarkable creativity, exceptional accomplishments, and notable service and leadership,” stated President Alan M. Garber. “He has sought excellence across various fields with an intensity that is only surpassed by his humanity, which shines vividly through his narratives in both fiction and nonfiction, along with his roles as a clinician and educator. I proudly count myself among his many admirers, and I can envision no better person to motivate the members of our Class of 2025 as they ponder their futures.”

Verghese holds the Linda R. Meier and Joan F. Lane Provostial Professorship of Medicine at Stanford University’s Department of Medicine. Committed to enhancing the physician-patient relationship, he established Presence, an interdisciplinary center dedicated to promoting the human experience in healthcare. Additionally, he is the founder of Stanford Medicine 25, an initiative aimed at nurturing bedside examination skills for learners and medical professionals alike. Learning to “read the body,” as Verghese articulates, not only enables healthcare providers to identify phenotypic information visible to them but also acts as a crucial ritual that strengthens the doctor-patient bond. Verghese has devoted his educational career to instructing the upcoming generation of physicians on the vital significance of compassion, human connection, and empathy in healthcare.

Apart from his roles as educator and physician, Verghese is a renowned author. His debut book, “My Own Country,” a memoir recounting his experiences treating patients in a rural setting during the onset of the AIDS crisis, was a finalist for the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award and recognized as one of Time magazine’s best books of the year. His second memoir, “The Tennis Partner,” earned a spot as a notable book in the New York Times. In 2009, he released “Cutting for Stone,” a novel that remained on the New York Times bestseller list for two years and was chosen as one of Amazon’s “100 Books to Read in a Lifetime.” In 2023, he launched “The Covenant of Water,” which became a New York Times bestseller and an Oprah’s Book Club selection currently being adapted by Netflix for a forthcoming series. Moreover, in addition to his memoirs and novels, Verghese’s writings have been featured in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, among others.

Verghese was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Indian educators. He completed his medical training in India at Madras Medical College before relocating to the United States to undertake his medical residency at East Tennessee State University. Following a fellowship in infectious diseases at the Boston University School of Medicine, he returned to East Tennessee State as an assistant professor of medicine and special fellow in pulmonary diseases.

In the early 1990s, he took a hiatus from medicine to pursue an M.F.A. at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. After completing his studies in Iowa, he returned to academia as a professor of medicine and the chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso, where he published his first book. He subsequently became the founding director of the Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, before relocating to Stanford in 2007.

In 2014, Verghese was honored with the Heinz Award for his outstanding contributions to the arts and humanities. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him the National Humanities Medal for his dedication to patient-centered healthcare and for enriching the nation’s understanding of the humanities. He is a distinguished member of both the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

During the Commencement ceremony at Tercentenary Theatre, Verghese will be awarded an honorary degree.