Speaker motivates students to do good

Tufts alumnus Deborah Meshulam, E79, EG81, spoke at the Tufts School of Engineering Graduate Programs Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 20. She delivered her address to a crowd of graduating MS and PhD students from the School of Engineering as well as their families and loved ones.

Dispensing wisdom from her life and career, Ms. Meshulam began her speech with a reflection on the first commencement speech she delivered at her high school graduation ceremony. She traced her journey from that speech all the way to her current position as the Senior Vice President of Technical Operations at Scholar Rock, a Phase 3 clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of serious disease in which protein growth factors play a fundamental role. 

Ms. Meshulam concluded her speech by inspiring the most recent graduates of Tufts University to use their engineering talents as a force for good. “All of the work that we do would be for nothing if we are not doing good,” she said. Watch her remarks, and the full Graduate Programs Commencement Ceremony, on the School of Engineering YouTube channel.

While at Tufts for the commencement ceremony, Ms. Meshulam received the Dean’s Medal for her accomplishments, leadership, and contributions to engineering, and for her service delivering the commencement address. The Dean’s Medal is one of four types of medals that Tufts University awards, and it is the only one that can be awarded by a dean of an individual school. This prestigious award traditionally honors the two speakers chosen for the School of Engineering commencement ceremonies each year. The medal recognizes the importance of Ms. Meshulam’s work to Tufts and to the larger engineering community. 

A biotechnology startup veteran, Ms. Meshulam has nearly 40 years of experience working at companies in their initial start-up stage. Prior to joining Scholar Rock in 2015, she held a variety of engineering and scientific roles for companies such as Synageva (acquired by Alexion), ImmunoGen, Genetics Institute (acquired by Wyeth, later Pfizer), Biogen, and Genentech (acquired by Roche). Meshulam is a double Jumbo holding an MS in Life Science and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University.

Learn more about Ms. Meshulam.