About the chancellor

A highlight of the annual Convocation and Investiture ceremony was the announcement of the 2026 recipients of the Chancellor’s Medals for excellence in teaching, scholarship, service and clinical excellence. 

E. Kale Edmiston, PhD, shared ways to support transgender patients during UMass Chan’s 14th annual LGBTQ+ Convocation Celebration, held virtually on Sept. 15.

The 225 UMass Chan medical students in the Class of 2030 received white coats on Sept. 11. The White Coat Ceremony marks first-year medical students’ first step into the profession as they start training to become physicians.

Convocation Week runs from Friday, Sept. 11 to Thursday, Sept. 17.

Proceeds from the UMass Cancer Walk, returning to Polar Park on Sunday, Sept. 27, support cancer research and clinical trials at UMass Chan.

Erik J. Sontheimer, PhD, the Pillar Chair in Biomedical Research, professor and vice chair of RNA therapeutics, has been appointed chair of the RNA Therapeutics Institute, effective in January of 2027.

UMass Chan Medical School is welcoming 378 new students to campus this week for orientation. Chancellor David McManus, MD’02, ScM’12, MBA, is providing remarks for each school’s orientation.

Barbini credits her success to her co-mentors, Chancellor David McManus and Dorothy Schafer.

David D. McManus, MD’02, ScM’12, MBA, has officially stepped into the role of chancellor of UMass Chan.