President's Commencement Colloquy
Join us for our annual Colloquy, a lively conversation with our Commencement honorary degree recipients — two remarkable leaders at the forefront of science and health care.
Doors open at 3PM. Colloquy begins at 3:30PM and will be followed by a reception with refreshments in Evelyn’s Café.
Free and open to the public.
Featuring
The Honorable Dr. Darío Gil
Dr. Darío Gil is Under Secretary for Science at the U.S. Department of Energy. His office is the nation's largest federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences, supporting all 17 National Laboratories of the United States, and responsible for programs including advanced computing, fusion, nuclear and high energy particle physics, basic energy sciences, and biological and environmental research. He is the department’s principal advisor on science and technology.
Prior to his current position, Dr. Gil was IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research, where he was responsible for one of the world’s largest and most influential corporate research labs. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering “for his contributions to artificial intelligence and quantum computing” and is a globally recognized leader of the quantum industry. Under his leadership, IBM was the first company in the world to build programmable quantum computers and make them universally available through the cloud.
Dr. Gil is an inventor and an institutional innovator, the force behind the creation of the International Science Reserve, the AI Alliance, the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, and the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium.
He has served on the President’s Council of Science and Technology Advisors (PCAST) and on the National Science Board (NSB), where he was the first member from industry to be elected chairman in 30 years. He has served on numerous boards including the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the New York Academy of Sciences, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the New York Hall of Science, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Dr. Gil is the recipient of two honorary doctorates and received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.
Christine Ann Miller ’97
Christine Ann Miller ’97 is a life sciences executive who most recently served as President and CEO of Melinta Therapeutics, where she led a significant transformation of the company into a leading player in the hospital acute care market. When she stepped into the role, Melinta was a pure-play antibiotics business facing industry headwinds. Under her leadership, the company evolved into a more diversified and resilient organization, doubling its revenue, securing multiple FDA approvals, and expanding its portfolio through a combination of licensing and acquisitions. She also guided the business to sustainable profitability while strengthening operational discipline and execution, ultimately positioning Melinta for a successful strategic acquisition in August 2025.
Miller is known for her people-first leadership philosophy, grounded in the belief that strong performance follows strong teams. She focuses on building organizations where accountability, clarity, and collaboration are embedded into how work gets done. Her leadership style emphasizes aligning teams around shared goals while empowering individuals to operate with ownership and purpose, enabling organizations to navigate complexity and deliver meaningful, measurable results.
Prior to Melinta, she held senior global leadership roles at Sandoz, Actavis, and Merck, where she led large-scale portfolio transformations, executed product launches, and drove growth initiatives across both branded and generic pharmaceutical businesses. Her experience spans commercial strategy, operations, and enterprise leadership, giving her a comprehensive perspective on how to build, scale, and evolve healthcare organizations in dynamic markets.
In addition to her executive leadership experience, Miller has served on both private and public company boards, as well as nonprofit boards, including Iveric Bio, BioNJ, and the Antimicrobials Working Group, along with advisory roles with the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association and the Lighthouse Guild. Through these roles, she provides strategic, operational, and governance oversight while contributing to broader industry advancement and the development of future leaders in life sciences.
Martin A. Schmidt ’81
Dr. Martin A. Schmidt is the 19th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), the first technological research university in the U.S. Founded in 1824, RPI is recognized as a premier university, noted for its robust and holistic learning community that connects creativity with science and technology. Under his leadership, RPI is advancing emerging fields like quantum computing and semiconductor research to address urgent global challenges.
An accomplished researcher and entrepreneur, Dr. Schmidt holds more than 30 U.S. patents and has founded or co-founded seven startups, several rooted in his pioneering work in microfluidics. Prior to RPI, Dr. Schmidt served as provost and senior academic and budget officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He earned his B.S. from RPI in 1981 and his S.M. (1983) and Ph.D. (1988) in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT.