Baruj Benacerraf '42

When the twenty-year-old Baruj Benacerraf boarded the Queen Mary for America in 1939, none of his fellow passengers suspected they were in the company of a future Nobel Prize winner. Born in Venezuela and raised in France, Baruj arrived alone in the U.S. at a time when Europe was about to detonate. Although sad to leave his family behind, Baruj was eager to continue his education. His first year in the U.S was spent finishing his French baccalaureate, refining his English, and developing his already strong interest in science, particularly biology. He applied to Harvard, but GS was the only school that would accept his previous credits obtained in France. “I came to the U.S. because I wanted a medical degree and GS gave me the chance to earn a marvelous education. It was the finest university in New York.” The premedical program at GS stimulated Baruj’s scientific interests, but his greatest pleasure was the freedom to read as he pleased. He remembers being as excited by the modern French playwrights as he was by Einstein's work on the theory of relativity. The active social setting and numerous personal friendships that Baruj experienced at GS were a vital part of his life as well. His strong attachment to and passion for Gallic culture led him to join the French Club, and it was there that he met his wife, Annette, a native of Paris and a student at Barnard College.

Today Baruj is President Emeritus of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston where he has served as top administrator for the past sixteen years. In 1980 he received the Nobel Prize in medicine for his research on immunology. “I’m very proud of the Nobel Prize–but most proud of my former students.” As well he should be. Over eighty of the top cancer researchers in the world have studied under Dr. Benacerraf and his contributions to the field of immunology remain unparalleled. When he reflects on his first experiences in the U.S., he is reminded that it all began at GS: “At Columbia, for the first time in my life, I had the feeling there were no limits to my curiosity and imagination.”

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