"This profile of the life and career of Anthony Fauci, M.D. ’62, Hon. ’87 begins with a scene from his freshman-year chemistry lab. Fauci had to walk a test tube containing a near-boiling solution from where he was seated to his professor’s desk. En route, the test tube slipped from its clamps. Fauci grabbed it bare-handed, leaving the skin of his fingertips burned onto the glass. Classmate Dennis Card, M.D. ’62 witnessed the damage, saying, “It showed me that the most important thing for him was getting the experiment right. He wasn’t worried about the pain.”
This dedication to science, medicine, and knowledge above all else—including the meanness, mockery, the death threats, and the repeated calls for his firing—are why we chose to profile Dr. Fauci. Moreover, we wished to underscore how his example serves Holy Cross’ call to action: to live as men and women in service to others. Fauci exemplifies the Ignatian ideal of cura personalis while following in the footsteps of Galileo, speaking truth to power, holding his ground, and resolutely maintaining that public health and a healthy economy need not be at odds with one another.
At a time where the battle between religion and science prompts acts of violence, Fauci embodies the argument that the two disciplines can peacefully coexist—even work together. Not that everyone thinks so. The article also examines a country divided and how Anthony Fauci became the pandemic’s most prominent and controversial figure."
From the Judges
A wonderful look at the distant past of a public figure that impressed the judging panel with its research and ROI.
