Who We Are
2009 Distinguished Service Award Recipients
Sherwood L. Gorbach, M.D., M62, J84P
Dr. Sherwood Gorbach has been continuously funded as a principal investigator by the National Institutes of Health for research in gastrointestinal infections, HIV, and nutrition since 1969. After internship and residency in internal medicine at Cornell-Bellevue Medical Center, he returned to the New England Medical Center for a fellowship in infectious diseases. He received additional postgraduate training in parasitology and entomology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and in gastroenterology at the Hammersmith Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London. Dr. Gorbach has conducted studies of enteric infections and nutrition in India and Latin America and has published 600 papers and authored 19 books. He has trained more than 90 fellows in infectious diseases. He has received the Alexander Fleming Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (2007) and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Anaerobe Society of the Americas (2008). Dr. Gorbach serves as editor of Clinical Infectious Diseases. At Tufts Medical School, he holds distinguished professorships in the Departments of Public Health, Medicine, and Molecular Biology and Microbiology. He has been awarded the school’s Citation for Excellence in Teaching 12 times and has been twice honored with the Special Faculty Recognition Award, bestowed by the graduating class. He is also a professor in the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Dr. Gorbach continues to teach, mentor, publish, edit, and contribute daily to the infectious diseases field he helped define over the past four decades. Dr. Gorbach’s family has played a seminal role in his achievements. For their ongoing help and support, he is forever grateful to his wife, Judy, his three children, and his four grandchildren.
Catherine Hayes, D.M.D., Dr. Med. Sc., D87
Dr. Catherine Hayes holds the Delta Dental of Massachusetts Professorship and chairs the Department of Public Health and Community Service at the School of Dental Medicine. She has focused her research, advocacy, and teaching activities on addressing health disparities and the serious access-to-care crisis for dental services in the United States. Prior to attending Tufts, Dr. Hayes received her B.S. in biology from Boston College in 1983. She completed a general practice residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1988 and received both master’s (1989) and doctoral (1993) degrees in epidemiology from Harvard University. She is a diplomate and vice president of the American Board of Dental Public Health. She is a member of the national workgroup updating the nation’s Healthy People objectives, has chaired the Oral Cancer Partnership, and is a member of the Massachusetts Coalition for Oral Health. Dr. Hayes is committed to preparing the next generation of dental providers for careers in active citizenship. She has been very active in designing community-based screening programs in oral health as well as providing educational opportunities for dental students in community settings. In 2006, she was appointed as the independent monitor to oversee remediation of the MassHealth dental program. She is a member of Boston’s Step Up Program, a collaborative effort of the dental schools of Tufts, Harvard, and Boston University that brings dental care to inner-city second and third graders. Dr. Hayes has published numerous articles and book chapters in the field of public health and epidemiology. She is also a member of the Executive Board of the Dental Alumni Association, the M Club Executive Committee, and co-chaired her D87 Reunion. Dr. Hayes and her son, Adam, live in Newton, Massachusetts.
Steven E. Karol, A76, A04P
Steve Karol has been an investor, operator, and advisor in business and nonprofit organizations for almost 30 years. Through HMK Enterprises, Inc., and Watermill Ventures, both of which he founded, he has owned and operated close to 50 companies. He has invested in dozens of startups and in a variety of interests including telecom, for-profit education, navigation, software, and others. Mr. Karol also founded Watermill Advisors, an advisory firm that provides strategy development services to a select group of clients. In addition to his long-time commitment to the Brain Tumor Society, where he serves as director emeritus, Mr. Karol also chairs the Tufts University Board of Overseers for the School of Engineering and the Vermont Academy Board of Trustees, and he is a co-founder of the Herbert M. Karol Cancer Foundation. He formerly served as a member of the board of overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and as a trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Boston Ballet. Mr. Karol is a former international president of the Young Presidents’ Organization where he held many positions throughout his 26-year relationship with the organization. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Tufts in 1976. Mr. Karol also graduated from the President’s Program of Leadership at the Graduate School of Business Administration at Harvard University in 1996 and is a group leader for the Chief Executive Officer’s program at Harvard Business School. In addition, Mr. Karol is currently a member of the board of advisors for J. Walter Company. He is also the former chairman of the board at Mooney Aircraft Company and former member of the board of directors of Inter-Tel Corporation and StockerYale, Inc. Mr. Karol and his wife, Michelle, reside in the Beacon Hill section of Boston and have three daughters: Julia, A04, Jacqueline, and Chelsea.
Alan M. MacDougall, A65
Alan MacDougall had a distinguished 30-year career in public service. He was a hard-working member of the Tufts Alumni Council and served as president of the Alumni Association from 2002–2004. A devoted member of the class of 1965, he was an ambassador for Tufts University wherever he lived and worked. Following his graduation, Mr. MacDougall began his career as a foreign intelligence officer with the U.S. Army, Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Office of the Director of Central Intelligence. An expert on Korea, he analyzed military threats in the Pacific region and advised foreign governments on intelligence structures. For his service, he was awarded an American Political Science Congressional Fellowship as well as the Defense Intelligence Service Medal. As a long-time member of the Tufts Alumni Council, Mr. MacDougall served in numerous leadership positions. During his term as president from 2002–2004, he sought to identify, foster the growth of, and include other new and existing alumni groups under the umbrella of TUAA. His work as a coauthor of the TUAA White Paper was critical in laying the groundwork for the TUAA’s role in the new millennium and his redefinition of the role of TUAA president has established an important precedent for the organization. Mr. MacDougall took a personal interest in and was a mentor to Tufts applicants, students, and young alumni. Through the years, he provided career advice to dozens of young Tufts graduates and to young people in general. Mr. MacDougall was a member of numerous charitable and municipal boards in his small Vermont village and over the last three years was involved in or led more than a dozen public service projects. Mr. MacDougall and his wife, Jeanne, joined the Charles Tufts Society and last year bequeathed their estates to the School of Arts and Sciences. (Mr. MacDougall passed away in January 2009. His award was accepted by his wife, Jeanne.)
David J. McGrath III, D.V.M., G83, V86, A11P
Dr. David McGrath is a veterinarian and the owner of seven animal hospitals in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Prior to attending Tufts, Dr. McGrath received a B.A. from Cornell University in 1981. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association, and the American Animal Hospital Association. In addition to his veterinary work, Dr. McGrath is an esteemed member of the community. He advocates for and supports a number of charitable organizations, especially in the area of education. He currently serves as a trustee of the Highland Street Foundation and the Nativity Preparatory School of New Bedford and is a director of the Edward Gorey House. Dr. McGrath is a member of the Tufts University Board of Trustees and chair of the Board of Overseers at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. He served as the first alumni chair of the Tufts Veterinary Fund, and his contributions to the Cummings School have made possible important additions to the Grafton campus, including the McGrath Veterinary Teaching Laboratory. In 2008, he was recognized with the Graduate School’s Outstanding Service Award for his exceptional contributions to Tufts. Dr. McGrath lives with his wife, Donna, N85, and four boys in Andover, Massachusetts.
Karel Zelenka, Ph.D., F69, F70, F85
Born and raised in Prague, Dr. Karel Zelenka studied at the Prague School of Economics and left Czechoslovakia after the Soviet invasion in 1968. He was admitted to the United States, where he studied at The Fletcher School. After several years of working for multinational companies and becoming a U.S. citizen, Dr. Zelenka returned to Fletcher to finish his doctorate in 1985. He joined Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in 1986 and was initially involved in supporting and coordinating relief and development activities in the Middle East and North Africa. When the war broke out in Yugoslavia in 1992, he was nominated CRS Country Representative in Croatia and Bosnia, where he set up and managed relief programs for refugees. Based on the successful work with partners during the three-year war, he was asked by Caritas Internationalis (CI) to assume responsibility for the Confederation’s response to major emergencies worldwide. In recognition of his valuable contribution to the mission of Caritas worldwide, its 17th General Assembly in 2003 awarded Dr. Zelenka the Caritas Gold Cross, the Confederation’s highest award. In 2003, he returned to CRS as deputy regional director focusing on Justice and Global Solidarity in Europe and the Middle East with a primary responsibility to provide leadership in integrating the “justice lens” into all CRS programming and relationships. In 2004, he was asked to set up CRS’s emergency response program in west Darfur, Sudan, where he spent several months building and expanding the program. In 2005, he became CRS Southeast Europe Representative. In 2007, Dr. Zelenka was transferred to Zimbabwe as CRS Country Representative to lead one of the largest CRS programs helping more than 1 million people a day survive. Dr. Zelenka’s wife, Moshira, with sons Karim (a freshman at the American University) and Danny (a high schooler in Rome) are sine qua non for his success, and it is thanks to their understanding and support of his difficult missions that he could help others in faraway places.