Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2002

have participated i n the t r a i n i ng of such successful scientists i n m y o w n l a b o r a t o ry a nd also i n f l u e n c ed the careers of m a n y talented medical students, graduate students and house staff.' I n 1981 Prof. M u r a d took u p a position at Stanford as Chief of Medicine of the Palo A l t o Veterans Hospital. Here he was able to continue the w o r k he was d o i ng at Virginia and at the same time to recruit ma ny y o u ng faculty and students f r om all over the wo r l d. After some productive years at Stanford he became vice-president of A b b o tt Laboratories, where he supervised d r u g discovery and d e v e l o pme nt o n a large scale a nd w i t h access to a v e r y large research budget. Under his management about 24 new compounds were b r o u g ht f o r w a rd for clinical trials. Me a nwh i le he continued his o w n w o r k on nitric oxide and cyclic GMP. Wh en he left Ab b o tt he had a huge managerial load that i n c l u d ed the supervision of 1500 scientists. A f t er a brief p e r i od as president and CEO of a n ew biotech company, Prof. M u r a d returned to academia in 1997, to his present position at the Un i v e r s i ty of Texas-Houston, wh e re he is the first c h a i r m a n o f a n e w l y c o m b i n ed basic science d e p a r t m e n t, Integrative Biology, Pharmacology and Physiology. Prof. M u r a d is happy, he says, back i n his laboratory i n the University, where his love of research began, w i t h the f r e e d om and the intellectual e n v i r o n m e nt of a c a d em ic me d i c i n e, a n d w i t h b r i g h t y o u n g students and fellows a ‘daily j o y' to h i m. A m o n g the d i s t i n g u i s h ed positions Prof. M u r a d c u r r e n t ly holds at the University of Texas-Houston Medical School are those of director, Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of H u m a n Diseases, the John S. D u n n Sr. D i s t i n g u i s h ed Chair i n Physiology and Medicine and Director of Clinical Pharmacology, D e p a r t m e nt of I n t e r n al Me d i c i n e. He is professor (adjunct), De p a r t me nt of Pharmacology, N o r t h w e s t e rn Un i v e r s i ty School of Medicine. He is also the honorary director of the Epithelial Cell Biology Research Centre of The Chinese University of H o n g K o n g i n collaboration w i t h the Chinese A c a d emy of M i l i t a ry Me d i c al Sciences. A p a r t f r om the No b el Prize, Prof. M u r a d has w o n the Baxter A w a r d for Distinguished Research i n Biomedical Sciences (2000), the ‘ Ho n o ur of the N a t i o n' A w a r d , A l b a n ia (1999), the A l b e rt Lasker A w a r d for Basic Me d i c al Research (1996) a nd the C i ba A w a r d , Ame r i c an Heart Association (1988). Prof. M u r a d is a truly distinguished man of science, and it is m y privilege to present h i m to y o u, M r. Ch a i rma n, for the a w a r d of the degree of Do c t or of Science, honoris causa. A citation written by Prof. David Parker The University's 58th Congregation 4 3