It would be difficult to find a better advertisement for Holy Cross than the man pictured on the cover of this issue of HCM. Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., ’62, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is a model of compassion, dedication, honesty and intellectual rigor. As you’ll read in these pages, Fauci came into the public eye amid a firestorm of controversy, confusion and fear. And he weathered that storm to become a trusted and respected leader—the voice of reason on issues of public health from AIDS to bio-terrorism.

Fauci is quick to attribute his success to others—primarily his parents, and also his teachers, the Jesuits, who rounded him in the sciences and the humanities; who instilled a passion for intellectual curiosity and a thirst for spiritual meaning; who cherished the individual and inculcated his deep sense of service and social responsibility.

Observers have suggested that Fauci does the work of three men, and his marathon workdays have become the stuff of Washington legend. If he is obsessed, it is the obsession of the singularly gifted, and it expresses itself in an overarching principle that governs all aspects of his life: Excellence.

It is this relentless pursuit of excellence that has earned Fauci the respect and admiration of an unlikely triumvirate of government officials, AIDS activists and his fellow scientists. And it has prompted colleagues to agree with the assessment of former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, when she said, “Tony Fauci is one of the great scientists of this world.”

Fauci is more modest in regard to his talents and accomplishments. Speaking about his fame last year to Government Executive Magazine, he said, “I’m always saying to myself, ‘Sic transit gloria mundi.’ I know that this is transient. The real substance is going into the patient’s room and figuring out what’s wrong, and how you can move some projects to not only make them better, but make a lot of other people better … That’s the thing that’s non-transient.”

A man of excellence and a man for others. Holy Cross Magazine is proud to introduce our readers to Dr. Tony Fauci.