SEAL, doctor, astronaut, Harvard Alumni Day speaker

NASA astronaut, Harvard-trained physician, and decorated Navy SEAL veteran Jonny Kim, M.D. ’16, will be the featured speaker at the annual Harvard Alumni Day celebration on June 5.

“Jonny Kim has devoted his life to serving others,” said President Alan M. Garber ’77, Ph.D. ’82. “In his journey from the front lines to the emergency room to the stars, he has found purpose in being a part of something larger than himself — and he has shown a determination to leave the world better than he found it. I have no doubt that his words will resonate with his fellow alumni, who are guided by those same values.”

In 2025, Kim spent eight months aboard the International Space Station as an Expedition 72/73 flight engineer. In the orbiting laboratory, he conducted a wide range of scientific experiments and technology demonstrations aimed at improving life on Earth and advancing NASA’s Artemis campaign. Artemis seeks to return humans to the moon and lay the foundation for deep-space exploration to more distant destinations such as Mars. During the expedition, Kim logged 245 days in space, orbiting the Earth 3,920 times and traveling nearly 104 million miles.

Kim never imagined such a future while growing up in Los Angeles, where he was born and raised by South Korean immigrants. He has spoken openly about a difficult childhood, which drove him to enlist in the U.S. Navy after high school.

In 2005, Kim joined SEAL Team 3, serving as a medic, sniper, navigator, and point man on more than 100 combat operations. He received the Silver and Bronze Stars for treating wounded teammates during two tours in Iraq — experiences that inspired him to pursue medicine.

Through the Navy’s enlisted-to-officer program, Kim completed a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of San Diego in 2012 before attending Harvard Medical School. While in Boston, he met Scott Parazynski, a physician-turned-astronaut who encouraged him to apply to the NASA astronaut corps. In 2017, a year into his emergency medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Kim was one of a dozen candidates picked by NASA from more than 18,000 applicants.

Now a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy, Kim earned the elite title of aeromedical dual designator in 2023 as both a naval aviator and a flight surgeon. A husband and father of three, he has credited his family, mentors, and the communities that support him — including those he found at Harvard — with much of his success.

All alumni are invited to join the festivities on campus or online. Learn more at alumni.harvard.edu/alumni-day.