Dr. Omar Farha encourages graduates to embrace challenges, pursue understanding and make the world a better place

Image: Numat

Dr. Omar K. Farha, cofounder of Numat, and Professor at Northwestern University, gave UCLA Chemistry Department’s 2023 commencement address.

Challenges are opportunities

With stories from his own journey from humble and challenging beginnings to becoming one of the world’s leading chemists, Dr. Farha encouraged graduates to see the opportunities in challenges.

• “Sometimes, when the odds are stacked against you, it brings out exactly what is within you that leads you to your success.”

• “I learned time and time again that my beginnings do not dictate my future. … I worked hard. I asked for help when needed. I learned from my mistakes. I kept moving forward and not looking back.”

• “…sometimes your greatest disappointments at the time turn into the best path forward, your greatest achievements”

• “Each of us has our own unique journey and has faced different challenges along the way. It’s through these challenges that we learn and we grow.”

Celebrate small triumphs and remember gratitude

• “...it’s important to acknowledge and celebrate our own personal triumphs no matter how big or how small they might seem.”

• “I know one thing for sure. I did not get here alone.”

Use knowledge to make the world a better place

• Dr. Farha quoted one of the world’s greatest chemists, Marie Curie, who said “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.”

He ended by emboldening graduates to “Be fearless in pursuing understanding, and use your knowledge to make the world a better place.”