Rush University is excited to announce that Ted W. Love, MD, immediate past chair, BIO and former CEO, GBT, will serve as this year’s honorary speaker for its 54th Commencement Ceremony on May 2 at Credit Union 1 Arena.
This year’s ceremony will celebrate over 700 students as they graduate from its College of Nursing, College of Health Sciences and Rush Medical College.
Love has a long and distinguished career in the biopharmaceutical industry. He most recently served as president and CEO of Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT), a biotech company founded in 2011 to address sickle cell disease. Love led GBT from a pre-clinical start-up into a multi-national commercial business and introduced the first innovative rationally designed, disease-modifying treatment for sickle cell disease.
Before GBT, Love served as executive vice president, research and development and technical operations, at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, where he played an instrumental role in initiating and completing Onyx’s first Phase 3 clinical trials, and the approval of Kyprolis, an FDA-approved prescription medication used to treat adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer.
“Rush University is honored to host Ted Love as this year’s commencement speaker, “says Robert S.D. Higgins, MD, MSHA, president, Rush University. “As a pioneer in the work to cure sickle cell disease, his commitment to a healthier future aligns with Rush and our mission of improving lives and bettering health outcomes. I look forward to celebrating the class of 2026 with him in May.”
Love serves on public boards that include Gilead Sciences, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Royalty Pharma and Structure Therapeutics. He is a founding board member of Life Science Cares Bay Area.
Love holds a Bachelor of Arts in molecular biology from Haverford College and received his medical degree from Yale. He completed his residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital.
About Rush University Commencement
Established in 1972, Rush University comprises Rush Medical College, the College of Nursing and the College of Health Sciences.
Graduating Rush Medical College students will be receiving doctorate degrees in medicine. Degrees conferred by the medical college also include Degrees conferred by the Graduate College include master’s biotechnology and clinical research as well as a master’s or doctorate in integrated medical science.
Students from the College of Nursing will receive either master’s in nursing or doctorate in nursing practice degrees.
Degrees conferred by the College of Health Sciences include bachelor’s degrees in health sciences, imaging sciences, medical laboratory science, perfusion technology, respiratory care and vascular ultrasound; master’s in clinical laboratory management, clinical nutrition, health systems management, medical laboratory science, occupational therapy, perfusion technology, physician assistant studies, research administration, respiratory care and speech-language pathology; and the doctorate in audiology.
Rush University is the academic enterprise of Rush University Medical Center, an Illinois non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that has an educational, research and clinical mission. Each component of the mission of Rush University Medical Center is co-equal in importance, and this tripartite mission allows academics and research to be fully integrated with clinical practice, providing an educational experience built around a teacher-practitioner model in order to train the next generation of health care professionals and providers while promoting a research environment that goes hand in hand with clinical excellence.