Congratulations to all our University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing students who are graduating today. Also, congratulations to the parents, partners, family, and friends who have supported and nurtured the graduates, enabling and facilitating their success. This commencement honors all that you have accomplished throughout the program and celebrates your continuous passion and commitment for nursing and your future leadership and contributions to nursing.

Our School of Nursing includes an excellent and strong community of outstanding students, committed and dedicated faculty and staff, and highly supportive alumni and friends. Our community is committed to addressing significant local, national, and global health care challenges through education, research, and service. With this extraordinary community, you have worked hard, successfully completed the program, and have been raised as promising future nursing leaders. With all your commitment and dedication to nursing, and with all the knowledge and skills that you have obtained through the program, you will make the world healthier and better.

As a part of this extraordinary University of Texas community, you have learned to lead and make promising changes in Texas and beyond with necessary competencies, compassion, and integrity. We are very proud of having raised our future nurse leaders in Texas and beyond.

Today, we are sending you out to the world so that you can make positive changes in Texas and beyond. I am highly excited about all the promising changes that you will bring to the nursing profession, and I am also deeply impressed with all the intellectual commitment and life experience that you will bring to the delivery of health care. This outstanding community of yours will always be here to support and celebrate your future journey and accomplishments.

Congratulations again.

Eun-Ok Im, PhD, MPH, RN, CNS, FAAN 
Dean
Professor and Laura Lee Blanton Chair in Nursing