UCLA alumnus and Nobel Prize winner Randy Schekman will speak at the UCLA College of Letters and Science’s commencement ceremonies in June, according to a UCLA statement released on Monday.
Schekman graduated from UCLA in 1971 with a molecular biology degree, a major that he created, according to the UCLA statement. He has been a faculty member at UC Berkeley for 37 years, working as a professor of molecular and cell biology. Schekman is also an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
In 2013, Schekman won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.
“I value the education that I had at UCLA and I remained in the University of California system my whole career,” Schekman said.
Schekman said he plans to talk about the importance of higher education and what it means to graduate. He said he also plans to discuss what the UC means to him, and what it should mean to all of the graduates, he said.
“It is important for the graduates and the UC system to recognize that it is not the same publicly supported institution that it used to be. There was little cost to attend the school when I went there, and it is a shame that this has changed,” Schekman said.
Schekman said he wants graduates and members of the UC system to realize they need to be generous with their time and financial support so that future generations of students are able to attend the University.
The two commencement ceremonies in which Schekman is scheduled to speak will take place on June 13 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.
Schekman said he is thrilled to come back to Pauley Pavilion to speak because he fondly remembers watching home basketball games in the stadium when he was a student.
Compiled by Laura Boranian, Bruin contributor.