David Ho (scientist) - Honors and Titles

Honors and Titles

Ho has received numerous honors and awards for his scientific accomplishments. He is the recipient of 12 honorary doctorates, including those from Columbia University and Tsinghua University. On January 8, 2001, he was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Clinton.

Ho was chosenthe commencement speaker at Caltech, MIT, and Harvard School of Public Health. Other accolades include the Ernst Jung Prize in Medicine, Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Science & Technology, the Squibb Award, and the Hoechst Marion Roussel Award.

Ho is an honorary professor at Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Wuhan University, and Fudan University. He was a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University and the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology. He is a board member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation.

Ho was Time magazine's 1996 Man of the Year. Time later recalled the selection surprised both Ho and readers, with one reader calling Ho "Dr. David Who?" The magazine acknowledged in 1996 that "Ho is not, to be sure, a household name. But some people make headlines while others make history." Ho was even briefly mentioned when Alexander Fleming was considered for Person of the Century in 1999, since Fleming could be portrayed as representative of other disease-fighting scientists including Ho, but the title ultimately went to Albert Einstein.

Ho has been elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Academia Sinica (Taiwan), and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy.

On December 6, 2006, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Ho into the California Hall of Fame located at The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts.