Holy Cross Names Science Complex for Fauci

NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci tries on his Holy Cross lab coat, observed by (from l) College President Vincent Rougeau, incoming chair of the board of trustees Dr. Helen Boucher and students Fernanda Perez-Alvarez and Tianci Guan.

Photo: MICHAEL IVINS/HOLY CROSS

Rougeau introduces the honoree.

Photo: MICHAEL IVINS/HOLY CROSS

Fauci talks with Holy Cross and Celtics legend Bob Cousy following the dedication ceremony.

Photo: MICHAEL IVINS/HOLY CROSS

The College of the Holy Cross, founded in 1843 in Worcester, Mass., named a campus facility after NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci, who graduated from the school in 1962. A dedication ceremony was held on June 11.

“One of the most important things I ever did was to balance the science that I learned in physics, chemistry and biology with being introduced to the history of people, civilizations and the humanities,” recalled Fauci, visiting the college in celebration of his 60th class reunion. “Because if I had chosen a different pathway to medicine and science, I might not have wound up in the public health career that I have, addressing such challenges as HIV/AIDS, pandemic flu, Ebola, Zika and, of course, our current crisis with Covid-19. So everything I do, from my basic research to my care of individual patients, to my responsibility to the groups of patients in a clinic trial, to my responsibility to domestic and global public health, to advising seven presidents of the United States…it truly is all rooted here in my education at the College of the Holy Cross.”

At the ceremony held in an atrium of the complex, Holy Cross President Vincent Rougeau said, “[Fauci] embraced his Jesuit education…at Holy Cross and its mission to serve others…In many ways, his faith and his family loaned him to us and we are proud to now loan him to the world…[He] has shown us that mankind can be courageous, kind and undeterred. We can trust science and eschew the ‘normalization of untruths’…Dr. Fauci, this is our abiding gift to you. Within the [facility], the ‘most young’ scholars of Holy Cross will rise. They will continue to engage in learning across multiple academic disciplines to encourage the kind of broad and collaborative thinking one needs to thrive in an interconnected and just world. They will actively participate in research and debate, encompassing science, ethics, the environment, psychology and human behaviors. They’ll embrace their Jesuit values, take risks and learn from mistakes, and channel your unbridled energy and optimism.”

In 2010, Holy Cross completed renovation of the $64 million science complex, the most ambitious building project in its history. Fauci gave the keynote address at the building’s opening that spring. Construction of a new four-story building linked to existing science and social science buildings in 2009 and complete refurbishment of Haberlin Hall in 2010 had resulted in 142,000 gross square feet of classroom, lecture, research and laboratory space.

“I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams when I walked onto this campus in 1958 and looked at the far-smaller number of buildings that are here today, that one day a building—this wonderful integrated science complex—would be named after me,” said Fauci. “This was a great college 60 years ago and it is an even better place today.”