Talk with Dr. Anthony S. Fauci: Unexpected Opportunities in a Global Health Career
By Margaret Chappell
When I first read about Dr. Anthony S. Fauci’s career, it seemed as if he had followed a clear path that took him from college student to infectious disease expert. However, at the first talk of the six-part lecture series held by the Conversations in Global Health course, he made it clear that this was not the case.
Dr. Fauci started his career journey the same way that Georgetown students do: with a Jesuit education. He cited his education at Regis High School for instilling in him a love of the Humanities that he would continue to pursue at the College of the Holy Cross. Although he was Pre-Med, he took Greek, Latin, and Philosophy courses, and found himself particularly intrigued by the impact diseases have on people and their everyday lives. He was also shaped by the Jesuit ideal of “people for others” and took it as a given that he would subscribe to this value in his career.
While he went to medical school with the intention of becoming a physician in New York City, Dr. Fauci found his path altered due to the Vietnam War. He was drafted and became a member of the Public Health Service. Through the Service, he completed a fellowship at National Institutes of Health (NIH) focusing on infectious diseases. Although he did not anticipate that research would become a central focus of his career, he continued this work at the NIH and at a hospital in New York City.
After about nine years, Dr. Fauci’s path took another unexpected turn. In the summer of 1981, he read the first reports of the disease that would become known as AIDS in the United States. Although he had developed a successful career treating other diseases, Dr. Fauci decided to turn his attention to this new outbreak and admit the first patients—then mostly gay men—to the NIH. This decision had a profound impact on the rest of his career, and he noted that he sometimes wonders what he life would look like today had the HIV and AIDS epidemic not occurred.
Listening to Dr. Fauci discuss his career path, I realized that although his journey may look calculated in hindsight, it was actually significantly shaped by factors completely out of his control. Indeed, Dr. Fauci said, “opportunities are put in front of you that profoundly shape your life.” He highlighted the importance of being alert and taking advantage of these opportunities as they arise.
As a second semester senior, I found Dr. Fauci’s remarks reassuring because he demonstrated that no one can actually plan out her career, or her life for that matter. Consequently, while it is useful to consider what I want to do in my career, there is no point in getting overly stressed about where I should be in the next five or ten years because opportunities will come along that I cannot fathom at this moment. Rather, I should take my career step by step and be prepared to take new challenges in stride, always harkening back to the value of “people for others.”
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH. During his 30-plus years in this position, Dr. Fauci has advised six presidents on how to prepare for and respond to pandemics and bioterrorism. Prior to this role, he was one of the principal architects of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
Margaret Chappell (SFS'19) is a senior in the Walsh School of Foreign Service majoring in science, technology, and international affairs with a concentration in global health.
This blog was written by a student in Georgetown’s Conversations in Global Health course, which brings leaders in global health to Georgetown to discuss their careers and work.