A Joyous Day: 2026 Spring Commencement Celebrates New Healthcare Professionals for Tennessee and Beyond

Markela Albright could not miss her family in the crowded lobby of Memphis' Cannon Center for the Performing Arts Monday morning after the first of three UT Health Sciences commencement ceremonies. They were the large group waving fans emblazoned with her photo complete with a doctoral tam and tassel.

Albright, now Dr. Albright, had just received her Doctor of Nursing Practice diploma.

"I'm grateful for my family and my friends," she said, amid the hugs and happy tears. "Without them, I would not have been able to complete this degree."

She was among 662 students graduating Monday during the university's Spring Commencement ceremonies, including 175 from the College of Medicine, 132 from the College of Dentistry, 115 from the College of Health Professions, 87 from the College of Pharmacy, 102 from the College of Nursing, and 51 from the College of Graduate Health Sciences. An additional 175 College of Health Professions students will graduate May 18 during the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology's commencement ceremony in Knoxville at the UT Knoxville Student Union Auditorium.

The ceremony for the College of Nursing, the College of Graduate Health Sciences, and the College of Pharmacy kicked off the day at 9 a.m. At noon, the ceremony for the Colleges of Dentistry and Health Professions took place. The College of Medicine ceremony was held at 3:30 p.m.

"As you complete this particular milestone, and it's perhaps not the last milestone in your education, we are confident and we believe you can be confident that you have the skills necessary to be great leaders, clinicians, and researchers," Chancellor Peter Buckley, MD, told the graduates during the morning ceremony. "As you embark on this new stage or expanding of your career, you will take with you all the core values of this great university to improve the health and well-being of all the communities that you will reside and serve in."

UT System President Randy Boyd offered the graduates three pieces of advice: don't be afraid to fail, look for serendipity, and say yes to opportunities.

"I think I might be the only commencement speaker in the entire country that will give this advice. I want all of you to go forth and fail," President Boyd said. "I've spent my life studying successful people, and I have found there's no one path to success, no one leadership style, no one magic formula. However, I have noticed one characteristic that everyone who has been successful has had, and that is persistence. Everyone gets knocked down, everyone fails at some point, but successful people get back up and keep going.

"Second, make detailed plans and have ambitious goals, but also look for serendipity," he continued. "Oftentimes, the best things in life are those things you don't plan for. That's the definition of serendipity. And lastly, remember, success begins with yes. Every great adventure, every great story, starts with somebody saying yes."

The graduates were welcomed into the ranks of what will be more than 500,000 alumni of the UT System all around the world once the spring commencements are completed at all five academic institutions. Stephanie Simpson, the UT Alumni Association Board of Governors president and a senior tax manager at HCA Healthcare, gave the induction into the UT Alumni Association at each ceremony.

Distinguished alumnus Phil Wenk, DDS, former inaugural chair of the UT Health Sciences Advisory Board, Special Advisor to the chancellor, and president of Delta Dental of Tennessee's Smile180 Foundation, addressed graduates, reminding them that commencement is both an end and a beginning.

"I graduated from the college (of Dentistry) in the 1970s, 1977 as a matter of fact, and the world was very different, but the responsibility of being a professional in the healthcare field is exactly the same today," he said. "You have been given an extraordinary education. You have been trained by world-class faculty. You have access to technology, research and clinical expertise that previous generations could only imagine. Today is not just a celebrated achievement. It is a commissioning, a beginning."

"Remember that healthcare is not a transaction, it is a relationship built on trust," Dr. Wenk said. "Patients will not remember every procedure you perform, but they will remember how you treated them, especially when they were afraid or when they were vulnerable, or when they were unsure. When you choose integrity over convenience and service over profit, compassion over indifference, you build a practice that lasts and a legacy that matters."

Chancellor Buckley summed up 2026 Spring Commencement, saying, "It was a great day…a joyous day. We are very proud of every one of our 837 colleagues, graduating this year, joining the clinical workforce and collectively pursuing our vision of Healthy Tennesseans. Thriving Communities."