How We Move Forward

Dear Emory alumni and friends of the university, the events of the last year—a devastating pandemic that transformed our world, acts of racial violence and social injustice that sparked action across the nation, an acceleration of new technology, and the unprecedented demand on health care systems and doctors, nurses and frontline workers—have defined one of the most challenging periods in our history.

This issue of Emory Magazine is all about using the lessons learned—some painful, some surprising—from these past months to create a new path for the future.

You’ll read about what our infectious disease and public health experts—many of whom helped shape the national discourse on COVID-19—think on how we can improve our public health system and build upon our successes to be better prepared for the next crisis.

You’ll discover how remote learning empowered our faculty to rethink how they teach and innovate in ways that will last far into the post-pandemic world.

You’ll see how the economy and workplace may be forever changed

And you’ll hear the voices of our faculty, staff, and alumni leaders as they reflect on our social, racial, and political divides and how we can heal them. 

I also want to take a moment to introduce you to Dr. Ravi Bellamkonda, who will be Emory’s new provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. Formerly the chair of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering—a joint program between Emory and Georgia Tech—and most recently the dean of Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, Ravi will return to Emory on July 1.

As a proven academic leader and outstanding medical scientist with a profound dedication to students and an innovative spirit, Ravi will play a central role in leading Emory to achieve our highest ambitions as a university.

Through our actions, bold ideas, teaching, creativity, art, scholarship and community, we have the opportunities to design the way forward. And from all that I have seen over these nine months that I’ve been fortunate to serve as president, it is no exaggeration to say that the future starts right here at Emory.

Gregory L. Fenves
President
Emory University