Incredible people I've met...

I have decided to start a post that keeps track of incredible people that I've had a chance to meet over the years.... and now I'm finally getting to the point of updating it through publishing. These people are not necessarily "famous" in a traditional sense, but they have made their mark on human society in markedly profound, and widely varied, ways. I'm humbled and inspired by each of them.


D.A. Henderson (led the global smallpox eradication effort with WHO)

• DA was a science advisor to BARDA, and I had the opportunity to meet him when I was working on the portfolio analysis project as a consultant 

Barry Marshall (Nobel Laureate for discovery of H. pylori as etiology for stomach ulcers)

• I met Barry (and his wife) in Colombia during a gastroenterology conference where he was the keynote and honored guest

U of I Awardees that were most notable to me during my time on the Alumni Board and acted as chair of the Awards committee:

Richard Clarida (Vice Chair of the Fed and noted economist, whose models on market actions in response to shock are used by virtually every central bank around the world)

Donald Johansen (discovered "Lucy" in Ethiopia... so cool)

Michael Sofia (discovered the base molecule that ultimately led to sofosbuvir, effectively curing HepC infection and reducing the burden on liver transplantation lists)

Laura Niklasson (working on a synthetic blood vessel as a bio-engineer at MIT)