Oregon Tech welcomes graduates, their families, and friends to the Klamath Falls campus on June 13 at 10 a.m. to celebrate the Class of 2026. Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) President Shereef Elnahal, M.D., M.B.A., will deliver the keynote address.
Dr. Elnahal was appointed the sixth president of OHSU in August 2025. In his role, Elnahal oversees a budget of more than $6.2 billion and more than 22,000 employees – OHSU is the city of Portland’s largest employer and one of the largest employers in the state. He is responsible for strategic planning, financial sustainability, and excellence and quality across the health care, research, and education missions to ensure Oregon’s academic health center continues to thrive.
Notably, during his tenure, OHSU’s Knight Cancer Institute received a historic $2 billion philanthropic gift from Phil and Penny Knight and opened its newest inpatient tower, Vista Pavilion, dedicated to cancer care.
Before joining OHSU, he served as Under Secretary for Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In that role, he led the largest integrated health system in the nation alongside a team of nearly 400,000 professionals. In this capacity, he also served on the National Academy of Medicine’s Leadership Consortium.
Prior to his role at VA, Elnahal served as President and Chief Executive Officer of University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. University Hospital is a Level I trauma center, the principal academic medical center for Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and New Jersey’s only public hospital. Before that, Elnahal served as New Jersey’s 21st Health Commissioner and was responsible for operating the state’s four psychiatric hospitals.
He holds a Doctor of Medicine from Harvard Medical School and a Master of Business Administration with Distinction from Harvard Business School.
Following the Klamath Falls event, Oregon Tech’s Portland-Metro campus will celebrate commencement on June 14 at 11 a.m., with Oregon Senator Kate Lieber serving as the keynote speaker.
For more information about Oregon Tech’s commencement ceremonies, visit www.oit.edu/registrar/graduate/commencement.
