Contact: Thonnia Lee, Office of Strategic Communications
Tuskegee University is proud to announce that alumna Rear Admiral Kis Robertson Hale will serve as speaker for the Graduate and Professional Schools Ceremony at 9:30 a.m. on May 2 in Chappie James Arena.
Tuskegee has entered its Renaissance Era and this ceremony will mark the largest number of PhDs conferred in one ceremony as the university works to increase its research and capture the Carnegie R2 designation. More than 20 PhDs will be hooded, 90 master’s degrees awarded and 51 new doctors of veterinary medicine will cross the stage.
Rear Admiral Hale, a 2003 graduate of the College of Veterinary Medicine, will walk graduates through her experience transitioning from veterinary student to leading professional. She serves as the Super Office Director for the Office of Laboratory Operations and Applied Science within the Human Foods Program of the Food and Drug Administration. As Super Office Director of OLOAS, she has executive oversight for the FDA laboratories that test the food supply for contaminants of public health concern, produce scientific findings to drive improved nutrition and food safety and enable the timely control and prevention of foodborne hazards that make people sick.
“When we say that Tuskegee University is training people to solve the world’s most complex problems, Rear Admiral Hale shines as an excellent example,” said Dr. Mark A. Brown, President and CEO. “We are looking forward to her words of encouragement as she motivates our graduates to dream big and work hard to accomplish those goals.”
Rear Admiral Hale is the Chief Veterinarian Officer of the U.S. Public Health Service. In this role, she advises the Office of the Surgeon General and the Department of Health and Human Services on issues central to the strength of the Veterinary Category and the assignment and deployment of Commissioned Corps veterinary officers. She also provides leadership and career counseling to the approximately 70 nationally dispersed Commissioned Corps veterinarians who are committed to using their highly versatile training in animal health, comparative medicine, and infectious disease to advance the Nation’s public health. She also serves on the Assistant Surgeons General Leadership Council.
Prior to coming to FDA, she worked at the Food Safety and Inspection Service as the Chief Public Health Veterinarian and the Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Public Health Science. In previous assignments throughout her 20+ years of Commissioned Corps service, she worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer and at the Maryland Department of Health as a CDC Preventive Medicine Fellow.
She earned her bachelor’s in Biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology, her doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Tuskegee, and a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Minnesota. She is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine.
“It is important for our students to see others succeed who have walked these hallowed grounds as they did,” said Dr. Brown. “We welcome Rear Admiral Hale and look forward to her words of inspiration.”
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