Jason Q. Purnell, president and CEO of the James S. McDonnell Foundation, will be the featured speaker at the Brown School’s 2026 recognition ceremony.
The event is set for 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 13, at the Athletic Complex Field House on WashU’s Danforth Campus.
Purnell joined the McDonnell Foundation in 2023 after leading community health initiatives at BJC HealthCare, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit health systems. He oversaw the system’s Community Health Improvement strategy, launching programs to address health equity and improve the physical, emotional, and financial well-being of underserved populations. He also advanced BJC’s role as an anchor institution, investing in community and economic development and promoting hiring and purchasing in 22 zip codes with high poverty rates and majority Black populations.
His work at BJC built on his scholarship and leadership at the Brown School, where he joined the faculty in 2009. He became an assistant professor in 2011 and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2017.
In 2014, Purnell and a team of colleagues at WashU and Saint Louis University released “For the Sake of All,” a landmark report on the health and well-being of African Americans in St. Louis. The report has informed policies, programs and educational curricula from Pre-K through graduate school. A 2018 follow-up report, “Segregation in St. Louis: Dismantling the Divide,” helped establish an affordable housing trust fund for St. Louis County and influenced other local policy initiatives.
Purnell earned a bachelor’s degree in government and philosophy, magna cum laude, from Harvard University; a master’s in public health and postdoctoral fellowship in cancer prevention and control at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry; and a doctorate from The Ohio State University.
The Brown School student speaker will be Liz Smith, who is completing a master’s in social work. The student marshal will be Sarah Harding, MSW ’26, and the faculty marshal will be Anna A. Shabsin, teaching professor and assistant dean of the Master of Social Policy program.
Additionally, Andy Cohen, an Emmy award-winning host, producer and author from St. Louis, will deliver the 2026 WashU commencement address at 9 a.m. May 15 on Francis Olympic Field on the Danforth Campus.
Susan Stiritz, professor emerita at the Brown School, will serve as honorary grand marshal.