Angelo State Spring Commencement Speaker

Angelo State University alumnus Dr. U. Shivraj Sohur, a clinician at the Internal Medicine Research Unit of Pfizer Inc.’s Worldwide Research and Development in Cambridge, Mass., will deliver the commencement address during ASU’s spring graduation ceremonies on Saturday, May 13, in the Junell Center/Stephens Arena.

Sohur will address graduates of the College of Education, Archer College of Health and Human Services, and College of Graduate Studies and Research in those academic fields during a 10 a.m. ceremony. He will speak to graduates of the College of Arts and Humanities, College of Business, College of Science and Engineering, and College of Graduate Studies and Research in those academic fields in a 2 p.m. ceremony. More than 950 ASU graduates are scheduled to walk the stage during the two graduation exercises. 

A 1992 ASU graduate, Sohur is also a faculty member at Harvard Medical School in Boston and a part-time attending neurologist in the Division of Movement Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he cares for patients with Parkinson’s disease and related disorders. He transitioned to the Pfizer Inc. global pharmaceutical company in January 2016 and now helps conduct clinical trials geared toward developing medicines for neurological disorders.  

A native of Espérance Trébuchet, Mauritius, Sohur graduated summa cum laude from ASU with his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology. He then earned his M.D. and Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University, completed his clinical training in neurology with a sub-specialty in movement disorders at Harvard, and joined the staff at Massachusetts General Hospital.  

Also a dedicated researcher into neurological disorders, Sohur has been published in numerous medical and scientific journals and has presented his research at professional conferences and seminars all over the world. His community service activities include addressing Parkinson’s disease with various support groups and visiting schools to give science and medicine career pathways presentations to students.  

Additionally, Sohur is an active ASU alumnus. He has granted and supervised internships for several ASU Honors Program students in his neurology lab at Harvard Medical School, and he spearheaded the formation of ASU’s Alumni Mentoring Program that connects Honors Program students with prominent alumni through Skype sessions and campus visits. In 2000, he was named the ASU Alumni Association’s Distinguished Carr Scholar Alumnus.  

While at ASU, Sohur was a member of the Student Senate, Beta Beta Beta national biology honor society, American Chemical Society, Alpha Chi national honor society, and Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. He also received the ASU Presidential Award as the top student in his graduating class.  

Sohur is married to Dr. Suzanne T. Szak, a computational biologist, and they have two children, Arjun (13) and Raina (11).