Holy Cross has an outstanding reputation for preparing students to become leaders in research and medicine. Notable achievements of science alumni are highlighted below:
James J. Collins, Ph.D. ’87
A MacArthur “genius” awardee (2003) for research on the control of gene networks in living cells; included in the 2005 Scientific American list of Top 50 Science and Technology Leaders; elected to the National Academy of Engineers (2011) and American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2012)
Anthony Fauci, M.D. ’62
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, leading the battles against HIV/AIDS; was honored with the 2008 Presidential Medal of Freedom
Jane Hawkins, Ph.D. ’76
Former Chair of the American Mathematical Society Committee on Science Policy; Professor of Mathematics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Joyce O’Shaughnessy, M.D. ’78
Director, Chemoprevention Research and Co-Director, Breast Cancer Research for US Oncology
Justin Parella ’06
Ph.D. candidate, Harvard University’s Division of Engineering and Applied Science; recipient of the prestigious Graduate Research Fellowing from the National Science Foundation
Edward Ludwig ’73
Retired CEO and chairman, Becton Dickinson Corporation, one the world’s leaders in medical technology
Richard A. Murphy, Ph.D. '66
Neuroscientist with a distinguished history of scientific and administrative leadership who served as the president and chief executive officer of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., between 2000 and 2006; currently serves on the Advisory Council of CRDF Global (Civilian Research & Development Foundation), a nonprofit organization that promotes international scientific and technical collaboration through grants, technical resources, and training
Joseph E. Murray, M.D. ’40
Completed the world’s first successful human kidney transplantation in 1954; awarded Nobel Prize in 1990
James Shannon, M.D. ’25
First Director of the National Institutes of Health
Selected Alumni Science Accomplishments
1954
Joseph E. Murray, M.D. ('40) completes the world's first successful human kidney
transplantation.
1955
James A. Shannon, M.D. ('25) appointed first Director of the National Institutes
of Health.
1961
C. Gordon Zubrod, M.D. ('36) named scientific director of the National Cancer
Institute.
1965
James A. Shannon, M.D. ('25) elevated to National Academy of Sciences.
1972
Anthony Marlon, M.D. ('63) establishes a health care company that becomes
Sierra Health Services, Inc. (publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange).
1973
Joseph Kerwin, M.D. ('53) becomes the first physician in space where he conducted experiments on Skylab.
1974
James A. Shannon, M.D. ('25) was awarded the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest honor for scientific achievement, by President Gerald R. Ford.
1977
Joseph Califano, ('52) appointed Director of the U.S. Department of Health,
Education and Welfare.
1982
Richard J. O’Reilly, M.D. (’64), now chair of the department of pediatrics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, was the first to conduct a successful bone marrow transplant for an unrelated, compatible donor. In addition, he co-developed an approach now used throughout the world to effectively treat children born without an immune system (once known as “bubble babies”).
1983
Leo A. Paquette, Ph.D. ('56) elevated to National Academy of Sciences.
1987
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. ('62) elevated to Institute of Medicine.
1989
Henry I. Smith, Ph.D. ('58) elevated to National Academy of Engineering.
1990
Joseph E. Murray, M.D. ('40) awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine for his pioneering work in human kidney transplantation.
Joyce O'Shaughnessy, M.D. ('78) becomes Senior Investigator in the Medical Breast Cancer Section of the National Cancer Institute. She is now Director, Chemoprevention Research and Co-Director, Breast Cancer Research for US Oncology.
1991
Thomas D'Ambra, Ph.D. ('78) founds Albany Molecular Research (publicly traded on NASDAQ) which developed and patented "Allegra."
Joseph T. Coyle, Jr., M.D. (’65) named President of Society for Neuroscience.
1992
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. ('62) elevated to National Academy of Sciences.
1993
Joseph E. Murray, M.D. ('40) elevated to National Academy of Sciences.
1994
Anthony Fauci, M.D. ('62) appointed Director of the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Disease where he leads our country's battle against HIV/AIDS and bioterrorism.
Joseph E. Murray, M.D. ('40) elevated to Institute of Medicine.
1995
Vincent T. Andriole, M.D. ('53) becomes President of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
Arthur L. Beaudet, M.D. ('63) elevated to the Institute of Medicine.
1997
James R. Fienup, Ph.D. ('70) was elected editor in chief of the Journal of the Optical
Society of America. He was editor in chief until 2003. Fienup is the Robert E. Hopkins Professor of Optics at the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester.
1999
Edward Ludwig ('73) named President of BD (Becton Dickinson) Corporation,
one of the world's leaders in medical technology, and later also becomes Chief Executive Officer and Chairman.
2000
Lisa Guay-Woodford, M.D. ('79) becomes President, Pediatric Research Council.
Richard A. Murphy, Ph.D. ('66) appointed President and CEO of the Jonas Salk Institute.
James E. Burke ('47), Chairman Emeritus of Johnson & Johnson and Chair of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton on August 9, 2000.
2002
Arthur L. Beaudet, M.D. ('63) receives March of Dimes Lifetime Achievement
Award in the field of genetics.
Henry Cox, Sc.D. ('56) elevated to the National Academy of Engineering.
Jane Hawkins, Ph.D. ('76) appointed Chair of the American Mathematical Society Committee on Science Policy.
2003
James J. Collins, Ph.D. ('87) awarded a MacArthur "genius" grant by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for research on the control of gene networks inliving cells.
2004
Tricia Striano, Ph.D. (’95) heads the research team for neurocognition and development at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and at Leipzig University’s Centre for Advanced Studies. She was awarded the Sofja Kovalevskaja Prize by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany “to young scientists and scholars from abroad with outstanding research records.”
2005
Anthony V. Stankus ('73; the nation's most published science librarian and former science librarian at Holy Cross) receives the Rose L. Vormelker Award from the Special Libraries Association for exceptional service to the profession of special librarianship.
James J. Collins, Ph.D. ('87) named to Scientific American’s list of “Top 50 Science and Technology Leaders.”
2006
Paul Schweitzer, S.J., ('58), professor of mathematics at Pontifical Catholic
University in Brazil, elected a full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.
Joseph T. Coyle, Jr., M.D. (’65) elected President of the American College of
Neuropsychopharmacology. He is Editor-in-Chief of Archives of General Psychiatry.
Robert Harrington, M.D. (’82) named Director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), the world’s largest academic clinical research organization.
2007
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. ('62) was awarded the National Medal of Science by President George W. Bush. It is the nation’s highest honor for scientific achievement.
Kathryn O’Brien (2008) was selected as the 2007 American Cancer Society Alvan T. and Viola Fuller Fellow in basic cancer research. She conducted research with Nobel Prize winner in Physiology, Craig C. Mello, Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. ('62) was awarded the Lasker Foundation Award for developing President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or Pepfar, and Project Bioshield, which seeks to improve countermeasures against potential bioterror agents. He was also cited for his role "in explaining issues of great concern like the science behind emerging biological hazards" to the public.
2008
Henry I. Smith, Ph.D. ('58), the father of x-ray lithography, has been elected as Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science.
James J. Collins, Ph.D. ('87) was one of the 56 biomedical scientists world-wide selected as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. He was also named by Governor Deval Patrick to the Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center,
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. ('62) was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Elizabeth Morse (‘08) was selected as the 2008 American Cancer Society Alvan T. and Viola Fuller Fellow in basic cancer research. She conducted research with Nobel Prize winner in Physiology, Craig C. Mello, Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She was named the Engel Fellow, an award given to the top fellow in the program.
Henry I. Smith, Ph.D. ('58), the father of x-ray lithography, has been elected into the Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Jerauld Skotnicki, Ph.D. (’73) was honored as a "Hero of Chemistry" at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. He is the head of Wyeth Research at Pearl River, NY.
Kierán Suckling (’88) founded the Center for Biological Diversity and serves as its Executive Director. The Center maintains the country's most comprehensive endangered species database.
2009
Donna M. O’Brien (’77), President of Community Healthcare Strategies, LLC, has received the National Institutes of Health Director’s Award in recognition of her work in developing The National Cancer Institute’s Community Cancer Centers Program.
2011
James J. Collins, Ph.D. ('87) elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Arthur Beaudet, M.D. ('63), chair of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
2012
James R. Fienup, Ph.D. ('70) elected to the National Academy of Engineering.