Dr. Anthony Fauci has become the face of the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. He credits his faith for his calm demeanor in uncertain times.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, attended he Jesuit-run Regis High School in New York City and the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., and eventually studied at Weill Cornell Medicine, the medical school of Cornell University. In 2006, the 79-year-old doctor wrote that he believes he has “a personal responsibility to make a positive impact on society.”
READ: Dr. Fauci defends administration’s response to coronavirus
Fauci is a practicing Catholic who was educated by the Jesuits, which is Pope Francis’s religious order. Several years ago, in a paper titled “A Goal of Service to Humankind,” he shared his three guiding principles:
- “First, I have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.”
- “Second, I believe in striving for excellence.”
- “Third, as a physician, I believe my goal is to serve humankind.”
“I’ve tried to accomplish this goal by choosing a life of public service,” he wrote. “I am a physician and a scientist confronting the challenge of infectious diseases. I consider my job a gift. It allows me to try and help alleviate the suffering of humankind.”
Fauci’s work in fighting HIV/AIDS earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded to him by then-President George W. Bush, whom he credited for establishing the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Fauci also credits his Jesuit education for his gentile manner.
“This has had a major, positive influence on the fact that I enjoy very much and am fairly good at being able to communicate scientific principles or principles of basic and clinical research without getting very profuse and off on tangents,” he said. “This is something that was drilled into us from the very early days in high school.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice