At Commencement ceremonies Sunday, May 18, Suffolk University will award honorary degrees to three distinguished leaders whose exceptional contributions to the law, artificial intelligence, and healthcare are improving lives and advancing the common good. 

Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s attorney general since 2019, and the first African American and Muslim American to be elected to statewide office in Minnesota, will speak to Suffolk Law graduates. Ellison gained national attention for his role leading the successful prosecution of the Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd. 

Dr. Frida Polli, PhD ’07, is a neuroscientist, inventor, and entrepreneur who explores the intersection of behavioral science and artificial intelligence. She is the founder of pymetrics, a company that utilized AI and behavioral science to improve workforce decisions. Polli is a visiting innovation scholar at MIT and is a doctoral graduate of Suffolk’s College of Arts & Sciences.

Sawyer Business School

John Fernandez

John Fernandez is the president and CEO of Brown University Health, a not-for-profit comprehensive, integrated academic health system affiliated with the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. In this role, he oversees multiple hospitals and healthcare facilities, including Rhode Island Hospital and its pediatric division, Hasbro Children’s Hospital; The Miriam Hospital; Bradley Hospital; Newport Hospital; Morton Hospital; St. Anne’s Hospital; Gateway Healthcare; Brown Health Medical Group; and Brown Health Medical Group Primary Care.  

Prior to joining Brown University Health, Fernandez was president of Mass Eye and Ear from 2007 to 2022, one of the nation’s largest specialty hospitals exclusively dedicated to academic research, training, and treatment for conditions that impair vision, hearing, and other disorders of the eyes, ears, nose, throat, head, and neck. He also served as president of Mass General Brigham Integrated Care, an entity formed in 2019 with a mission to bring lower-cost healthcare closer to where patients live.  

Throughout his career, Fernandez has demonstrated a track record of increasing and improving healthcare services, investing in research and innovation, and training the next generation of health professionals. He led key strategic initiatives to provide greater access to ambulatory services in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and other states, including the design, planning, and opening of a multi-specialty ambulatory care and surgical center in Salem, NH.  

Fernandez received a bachelor’s degree in political science from The College of Wooster in Ohio and a master’s degree in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

College of Arts & Sciences

Dr. Frida Polli, PhD ’07

Dr. Frida Polli is an award-winning neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and investor known for her pioneering work at the intersection of behavioral science and artificial intelligence. 

She co-founded and served as CEO of pymetrics, a company that utilized AI and behavioral science to improve workforce decisions. Under her leadership, pymetrics became a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer and was recognized in Inc. 5000’s Fastest Growing Companies and Forbes AI 50.  

Polli is currently a visiting innovation scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Schwarzman College of Computing, focusing on combining AI and behavioral science to address global challenges. She is also an entrepreneur in residence at the Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity and Equality at the Buck Institute, and has launched initiatives promoting ethical AI use and investing in women founders in science and healthcare.  

Polli earned a Bachelor of Arts with honors from Dartmouth College, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a PhD from Suffolk University. Her academic career includes predoctoral training in neuroscience at Harvard Medical School and a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT, where her research focused on multimodal imaging of health and disease, leading to numerous publications in esteemed journals.  

Suffolk University Law School

Keith Ellison

Keith Ellison is the attorney general of Minnesota, serving as the state’s chief legal officer since 2019. Prior to his election as attorney general, Ellison represented Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019, where he was known for his advocacy on issues such as consumer protection, civil rights, and healthcare reform. He is the first African American and first Muslim American to be elected to statewide office in Minnesota.

Prior to serving in elected office, Ellison spent 16 years as an attorney, specializing in civil rights and defense law, including five years as executive director of the Legal Rights Center. 

As attorney general, Ellison has focused on protecting the rights of Minnesotans, addressing consumer fraud, and advocating for affordable healthcare. His focus on consumer protection included fighting to lower pharmaceutical drug prices, hold opioid companies accountable for the opioid epidemic, protect tenants from exploitation, and protect seniors from scams and abuse.

He gained national attention for his role in prosecuting the former police officer convicted in the death of George Floyd, demonstrating his commitment to justice and accountability.

Ellison holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wayne State University and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School.