Commencement 2006

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Remarks by Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.
Director, National Institutes of Health
Undergraduate Diploma Ceremony
The Johns Hopkins University
Thursday, May 25, 2006 | Homewood Field | 1:45 a.m.

[Note: Prepared text. Not checked against delivery.]

President Brody, members of the faculty and board of trustees, alumni and distinguished guests, parents, and students of the class of 2006:

Today is a great day, and I am truly honored to share it with all of you.

This is also a special day for me because my story in America began right here. I came to Johns Hopkins over 30 years ago as an immigrant from Algeria, a few weeks after I graduated from medical school. I arrived with my wife, just a couple of months after our wedding, with few resources and no friends or family in this country.

I've lived about half of my life at Johns Hopkins. Much of what I have been fortunate to accomplish in life, I owe to this great institution and its generous and brilliant people. I will always consider Hopkins my home away from home.

As you heard, I am now director of NIH, the National Institutes of Health, the primary federal agency that funds medical research in this country. The NIH supports and trains more than 200,000 scientists at universities and medical centers in all 50 states and throughout the world.

We have a budget of $28 billion. That sounds like a lot, but it amounts to only about $95 — per year, per American — to understand and fight about 6,000 diseases that are bound to affect every one of us at some point in life.

As NIH director speaking on the campus of the first true research university in America, you would expect me to talk mainly about research and science, right?

Well, no ... that is not my goal for today.

First, I want to talk about moms and dads. My own children have graduated in recent years, and the deep sense of pride I felt watching them receive their degrees is unforgettable (as well as the sense of relief about not having tuition to pay anymore!).

My wife Nadia did nearly all the work of raising our children while I was mostly at work and I remember the many years watching our kids' every move and rooting for them through the good and bad times of growing up.

Well, your parents have done the same for you, they are justly proud of you today. And so first I want to recognize all the mothers and fathers here today, and all the family members and friends, without whom your terrific achievement would not have been possible. I would like to ask all the graduates and the faculty to join me in a round of applause for all of the families here today.

So, this great day is finally here. The late-night cramming sessions, the finals, the great Hopkins lacrosse games are over. These are now memories — special memories that will stay with you for a lifetime.

Now, you have earned a very prestigious diploma and you have made it to the elite ranks of future Hopkins alumni.

What does that really mean?

Well, here's one prediction I am absolutely sure will come true: From this day on, you will be hounded forever by Hopkins fund raisers!! Be ready!

But, really, it is a good thing because ultimately it is not just what you receive in life but what you can give in return that will define you.

Another surefire prediction I can make, is that there will be many more people who will say that you are from JOHN HOPKINS when they introduce you than people who will get it right and say JOHNS Hopkins. Believe me on that one.

Now you have to be careful about making too many predictions — once there was a gentleman...

I have to admit to you that I cannot even remember who exactly MY graduation speaker was, nor what he said except for the jokes ... so I thought you should hear one at least.

Now on a more serious note:

I still remember the mixture of pride, hope, anxiety, and outright fear of failure that I felt at my own graduation.

When I think about your graduation, I think about the world in which you will live and the unique set of challenges facing your generation.

The world you are now entering is very different from the world I entered after college. Today's is the most global society we have ever known.

The columnist Thomas Friedman from the New York Times wrote a best seller called "The World Is Flat," which describes globalization in vivid terms. The gist is that we live in an increasingly connected world where distances, wealth and knowledge gaps are rapidly decreasing. These ideas have become a mantra for many.

But is it really true?

There is no question that our world is more connected through the wonders of information technology and the relative ease of global travel. We can get on a plane to California, London, or Brazil ... to Shanghai, Mumbai, or Dubai, then walk out of the gate and find a Starbucks and a wireless connection in the airport.

But I have come to believe that this world view is incomplete and misleading. I believe that there is not ONE but two, divergent globalizations going on at the same time on our planet.

One globalization is that of an increasingly connected world, as aptly described by Tom Friedman. But the other globalization is that of an increasingly disconnected world where knowledge may actually be decreasing and where poverty and disease are on a steady climb.

This dawned on me as I traveled to Africa and Asia for NIH.

Malaria, which was almost eliminated in the 1970s, has roared back, and tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS have exploded.

It is tragic.

Demographic pressures and scarce resources make good governance very difficult in an increasing number of countries where educational systems are collapsing. Civil strife is on the rise, and corrupt, dangerous, and violent political movements are the rule rather than the exception.

I met with the president of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam, during a visit there.He is a revered physicist and a champion of education for all.

To my surprise, our entire conversation did not revolve around the extraordinary progress and emergence of India as a global powerhouse of knowledge.

Rather, what we talked about was Dr. Kalam's deep concern that India's population had quadrupled during his lifetime, with a large and prosperous middle class emerging but that, in absolute numbers, the population living below the one-dollar-a-day poverty line had more than doubled.

Relative percentages and statistics often hide the fact that many more individuals today live in poverty than 50 years ago.

The fact is this: Only about 2 to 3 billion people belong to our connected world. That is less than half of today's world population. And it is also the half that is aging faster and growing more slowly than the rest.

Another 3 billion humans know nothing of Friedman's flat world — they are out of the loop and simply disconnected. Please realize that this is as many people as were living on Earth 50 years ago. And their rate of population growth is greater than that of the connected world.

By 2050, there will be 9 billion people on Earth. The question I anxiously ask myself is, "Which globalization will prevail? the connected one or the disconnected one?"

Are we living in an era when, for each step forward, we take two steps backward?

I would venture to say that on a per individual basis, total world knowledge may have gone down, not up.

You may think that what I am talking about is going on somewhere else away from here. But think again.

The two worlds I am referring to are intertwined; they are co-existing simultaneously within the same countries, sometimes within a few miles from each other, including developed countries.

We saw it first-hand during the Katrina disaster last summer. Side-by-side, the stark differences between the haves and the have-nots in New Orleans stood out. It's not just there; it's right here in East Baltimore as well. There are huge divides in access to health care, access to good education, to food and other resources.

This is something we as a society have to commit to changing, because it will affect the stability of the world you and your children will be living in for years to come.

So the first step is to always be careful about widely held concepts. Form your own opinions; do not just follow accepted wisdom.

The second step is reaching out to touch and make contact with the other half, to help that world connect with ours.

And the glue will be you!

I am proud that, in the role I have today, I have had the chance to help make a little difference.

NIH has tripled its funding for global health research, and our country has now become the leader in providing drug therapy for AIDS patients worldwide.

But this is far from solving the fundamental problems we are facing. That is one of the core challenges facing your generation.

Frantz Fanon, a psychiatrist and author of the famous book The Wretched of the Earth, wrote in 1961:

"It is at the heart of national consciousness that international consciousness lives and grows."

So my exhortation to you is to get involved in national affairs early rather than late. Seek internships and fellowships in Congress, in the top levels of government and at other national institutions.

Do not just rush into a predetermined career path; explore for a year or two. Take some time away, network with a diversity of people.

Thanks to medical progress, you will live a longer and healthier life than experienced by all the generations preceding you.

Think of life not as a 100-meter dash to success, but as a marathon. You have to pace yourself, enjoy the journey! You will have many opportunities and several careers with different twists and turns.

The key to your success will be related to how well you understand what is happening around you and, more importantly, on your ability to take risks and to explore new pathways — whether in business, science, or society at large.

What I am saying is: what really matters is how well you can provoke and embrace innovative change.

This is your chapter in history and you should push for and be ready for the unexpected.

Tom Brokaw wrote a book about what he called the Greatest Generation, that of your grandparents who lived the Great Depression and World War II.

I do not know how your generation will be called, but it could well be the "get real" generation. That's because our country is also facing significant economic and social challenges today.

As a participant in the Washington scene over the past four years, it has become clear to me that profound reforms will have to be made soon in our healthcare system, in social security, and in education and many other aspects of our society. A new kind of "New Deal" will have to evolve under the leadership of your generation.

So, today I ask you to become part of the action. Be part of the breaking down of barriers — cultural and other — that may stand in the way of the natural genius of our country and its people.

We cannot let fear or insecurity destroy the American spirit.

The greatness of our country has always been its ability to imagine and adopt new ways. The difference between the world I knew in Algeria and the world here is that here, when I had a new idea the response was always "Why not?" and not "Why!" Here, failing fairly is a badge of honor, not dishonor.

One of the hallmarks of weak societies is the smothering of innovators under the pretense of tradition or unquestioned wisdom.

Through my winding path through life, one that's taken me all over the world, I've learned the value of taking risks, of not being afraid to go against the grain and to be a dreamer sometimes.

As said by turn-of-the-century poet Kalil Gibran, author of the book The Prophet: "Yesterday is but today's memory, tomorrow is today's dream."

So my last message to you is: Dream the biggest dreams, because just as you can't make a large box fit into a small box. You can't make a great life fit into a small dream.

Stay true to your intellectual curiosity, your integrity, your compassion, and your desire to make the world a better place for all.

Congratulations and Godspeed!