Science Advocate Mary Wooley is 2025 Class Day Speaker

Mary Wooley, MA, LHD, the president and CEO of Research!America, will be this year's Class Day Speaker and will receive the Second Century Award, presented by Columbia Nursing since 1991 for excellence in advancing the health and well-being of all citizens.   

Columbia Nursing's 2025 Commencement will be held on Tuesday, May 20, in the Armory.  

Wooley has led Research!America, an alliance advocating “science, discovery, and innovation to achieve better health for all,” since 1990. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Her honors include the AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize and the Advocacy Award of the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research.