HWS News
25 September 2026 Between Worlds: Jianan Chen Graybill ’86 Shares Her Journey from China to Medicine
In a newly published memoir, the HWS alumna recounts her childhood during China’s Cultural Revolution, her journey to America at 15 and the path that led her to a career in medicine. Graybill will discuss her book and experiences during an upcoming HWS virtual program.
At 15, Jianan Chen left China alone, carrying little money and knowing only a few words of English. Now Dr. Jianan Chen Graybill '86, she has transformed that extraordinary journey into a new memoir, Between Worlds: One Woman’s Journey from Cultural Revolution to American Dream, published in June 2026.
Born in Changchun to an intellectual family, Graybill grew up during Mao’s Cultural Revolution, when her family faced persecution and uncertainty. Her memoir traces her childhood in China and the challenges of starting over in the United States — first as a teenager navigating an unfamiliar language and culture, and eventually as a college student, medical student and physician.
At Hobart and William Smith, Graybill graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in chemistry and mathematics. A William Akira Sakow Scholar, she went on to earn her M.D. from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, becoming one of the first medical students from mainland China to attend the school following the Cultural Revolution. She has since built a career spanning more than 30 years in radiation oncology.
Today, Graybill practices in Indianapolis, where her areas of expertise include breast cancer, male breast cancer and prostate cancer.
Throughout Between Worlds, Graybill reflects on the experience of living between cultures and identities — and on the people and opportunities that helped her find a way forward. The memoir explores immigration, resilience, freedom, education and medicine, while considering what it means to build a new life without losing connection to the one left behind.
“William Smith College played a pivotal role in my life, which is an important part of this book,” Graybill says. “It will be especially meaningful to share this story with the HWS community.”
