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The eighth annual presentation of the Sanctae Crucis Awards
took place at a campus dinner on April 22. The Awards are
the highest non-degree recognition bestowed by the College
on an alumnus or alumna. Awards are given in the categories:
Distinguished Professional Achievement, Outstanding Community
Service and Outstanding Young Alumnus/Alumna. This year’s
recipients are: John P. Donohue, M.D., ’54; Peter
O. Kwiterovich Jr., M.D., ’62; Tara
M. Libert ’86; and John A. Wiater ’75.
John P. Donohue, M.D., ’54 earned his medical degree
from Cornell University Medical College. After serving as
ship’s surgeon on the aircraft carrier USS Wasp,
he completed his residency in urology at Massachusetts General
Hospital. In 1965, he joined the Indiana University Medical
Center faculty and served as chair of the Center’s
urology department, from 1971 through 1998. Donohue pioneered
the development of chemotherapy and nerve-sparing surgical
techniques for testis cancer, which has resulted in a 96
percent cure-rate for a disease that was once estimated to
be fatal in 90 percent of all cases. Regarded as one of the
great surgeons in his area of specialty, Donohue has been
named “Outstanding Teacher in Surgery” and “Outstanding
Professor in Clinical Sciences” on five separate occasions.
He is a recipient of the Barringer Medal from the American
Association of G.U. Surgeons; the Valentine Medal of the
New York Academy of Medicine; the Distinguished Contribution
Award of the American Urological Association; and the Uro-oncology
Award from the Japanese Urological Association and from the
Australia Urological Society. In addition, Donohue has received
the Charles Higgins Medal and the first Distinguished Career
Award given by the Société Internationale d’Urologie.
Peter O. Kwiterovich Jr., M.D., ’62 earned
his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School
of Medicine. After an internship in pediatrics at Children’s
Hospital in Boston, he spent three years in the molecular
disease branch of the National Heart and Lung Institute,
where he first began to concentrate on research in the areas
of cholesterol and its affect on the heart. Returning to
Johns Hopkins in 1972, Kwiterovich established the Lipid
Research Program, of which he remains the director. In the
1980s, his lab identified a pair of proteins that can help
to predict the probability of coronary artery disease. Today,
Kwiterovich is considered by his peers to be one of the world’s
foremost clinicians in the area of lipid disorders. As the
discoverer of three new proteins that play a critical role
in heart disease, he significantly has advanced the field
of cardiac care. An educator as well as a scientist, Kwiterovich
has shared his knowledge with both his colleagues and the
public. The author of The Johns Hopkins Complete Guide
to Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease, he has also
published Beyond Cholesterol, which won the Blakeslee
Award as the best book of the year in its field. The recipient
of the Helen B. Taussig Award, given by the American Heart
Association, Kwiterovich has been listed in the reference
text, The Best Doctors in the United States. Recently,
he has turned his attention to the increasing problem of
childhood obesity. Serving on the steering committee for
a major research initiative, The Dietary Intervention Study
in Children, Kwiterovich helped to complete the first study
to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of a low-fat
diet in children.
Tara M. Libert ’86 is the founder of the “Free
Minds Book Club and Writing Workshop,” a first-of-its-kind
program based at the District of Columbia jail. Developed
and implemented by Libert, in conjunction with the Georgetown
University Law Center’s Family Literacy Program, “Free
Minds” is an educational initiative that serves incarcerated
juveniles. Promoting literacy and personal development through
reading and creative writing, Libert’s program has
made a difference in the lives of over 70 young men. Currently
creating a new program to find pen-pals and mentors for these
young prisoners, Libert also is the host of “There’s
Got to Be a Better Way,” which profiles individuals
who offer creative solutions to social problems. In addition
to serving as a community mediator and conference facilitator,
Libert is the owner of Big Picture Productions and the producer
of the award-winning documentary, Childhood Cancer Clusters
in Toms River, N.J.
Upon graduating from Holy Cross, John A. Wiater ’75 joined
Catholic Relief Services, an international aid organization.
Serving first as an assistant representative in Colombia and
Peru , he soon became a country representative in Paraguay
. Seeing firsthand the devastating effects of third-world poverty
reinforced Wiater’s dedication to a life of service and
support. Never losing hope, always striving toward betterment,
Wiater moved food and provisions into places where the necessities
of life were often in short supply. One of the unsung heroes
of the relief process, he labored quietly but effectively and
with an unwavering commitment to an ongoing mission of mercy.
In 1985, he assumed responsibility for community development
in Cameroon , Guinea , Chad , the Central African Republic
and Zaire . In 1987, Wiater moved to war-torn Ethiopia , where
he oversaw his organization’s administrative, finance
and logistical operations—managing a 150,000-megaton
annual food-aid program, which provided desperately needed
aid to over one million Ethiopians. In 1992, Wiater moved to
Guatemala , overseeing the management of development programs,
including initiatives for child health care, sustainable agriculture
and human rights. In February 2003, he joined the United Nations
Mission in Kosovo, eventually directing the department of justice’s
administrative division. He has recently accepted a new position
with the United Nations, in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo ( Kinshasa ) .
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John P. Donohue, M.D., ’54;
Peter O. Kwiterovich Jr., M.D., ’62; Tara
M. Libert ’86; and John A. Wiater ’75.
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