Science editor Holden Thorp is Pitt’s 2024 winter commencement speaker

Holden Thorp — a chemist, pharmaceutical executive and editor-in-chief at the journal Science — will serve as speaker for Pitt’s 2024 winter commencement. The ceremony is Dec. 18 at 3 p.m. in the Petersen Events Center.

Thorp became editor of the Science family of journals in October 2019. Previously, he was provost and a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Now a professor at George Washington University in the nation’s capital, he is on leave to serve with Science.

Thorp joined Washington University after spending three decades at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), where he served as the 10th chancellor from 2008 through 2013.

He co-founded Viamet Pharmaceuticals, which developed Vivjoa (oteseconazole), now approved by the FDA and marketed by Mycovia Pharmaceuticals. Thorp is a venture partner at Hatteras Venture Partners as well as a consultant to Ancora and Urban Impact Advisors.

Thorp’s civic leadership includes serving on the board of directors of the Public Broadcasting Service and Saint Louis University. In addition, he serves on the scientific advisory boards of the Yale School of Medicine and the Underwriters’ Laboratories Research Institutes. STAT, a media company focused on journalism about health, medicine and scientific discovery, named Thorp to its list of top leaders in the life sciences for 2024.

Thorp earned a BS degree from UNC, a doctorate in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and completed postdoctoral work at Yale University. He holds honorary degrees from Hofstra University and North Carolina Wesleyan College and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Follow @PittCommencement on Instagram and visit the commencement website for everything you need to know about the celebration.