Doug Fridsma to speak at 2022 commencement

The 2022 graduate recognition ceremony of the School of Information will take place on Sunday, May 1 at 4 p.m. in Hill Auditorium, 825 North University in Ann Arbor.

The graduation speaker will be Doug Fridsma, MD, PhD, FACP, FACM, FAMIA, an expert in health informatics and health information technology. Dr. Fridsma is head of government partnerships at Datavant, a health IT start-up that enables the linking of health data across different healthcare organizations, all while preserving privacy. This information can be used to support research and population health analytics, including important work done during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Fridsma also founded Inicio Health, LLC, an international consultancy that provides advice and support for early-stage start-ups and non-profit organizations.

Previously, Dr. Fridsma was the president and CEO of AMIA (the American Medical Informatics Association), where he led the effort to define the field of clinical and health informatics. His work was used to update the clinical informatics medical board specialty and the accreditation standards for clinical fellowships, along with the development of new certification for nurses and other health informatics professionals. 

He also served as the Chief Science Officer for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) during the Obama administration. While at ONC, he was in charge of the technical resources portfolio used to support health information technologies for the United States. Dr. Fridsma was also a key liaison between ONC and workforce development, the innovation community, and international health information technology community.

Dr. Fridsma has held academic appointments at the University of Pittsburgh, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Mayo Clinic, and had a part-time clinical practice at the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale. He currently serves as the chairman of the board of directors for the Center for New Data, a non-profit organization he helped to found that is dedicated to using novel forms of data to support public policy and social good.

“I am honored to be back at my alma mater and to be able to address the graduates of the UMSI,” Fridsma says. “Information will be the currency of the 21st century, and I’m so excited to be able to speak to these future leaders.”

More than 600 students in the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs are expected to graduate from UMSI this spring. 

The University of Michigan will also honor the Class of 2020 with a special Comeback Commencement Ceremony for those graduates whose celebration was postponed because of COVID-19. The Comeback Ceremony will be held in Michigan Stadium on Saturday, May 7 at 1 p.m. 

UMSI will also celebrate 2020 graduates with an alumni reception the evening of Friday, May 6, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. The UMSI reception will be open to all School of Information alumni, their friends and family. The event will be in the North Quad courtyard and refreshments will be served.