The National Academy of Engineering has elected 66 new members, including genomics pioneer George M. Church, Ph.D. '84, of Harvard Medical School (HMS) and William W. George, M.B.A. '66, of Harvard Business School (HBS).
Church, professor of genetics and director of the Lipper Center for Computational Genetics at HMS, was honored for his contributions to technologies for sequencing the human genome and for discoveries in DNA synthesis and assembly. "DNA as Data," a 2004 Harvard Magazine cover story, profiles his work; for more recent accounts, see "Life: The Edited Version" (2011) and this New York Times report.
George, professor of management practice, was recognized for his role in applying engineering principles to manufacturing in healthcare. He is the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic, and now teaches and writes about leadership. His participation in HBS's required first-year M.B.A. course on business ethics is described in detail in the 2006 article "An Education in Ethics." George serves on the executive board of the Advanced Leadership Initiative, based at HBS, and has underwritten the George Leadership Fellowship at the Kennedy School of Government's Center for Public Leadership, helping to educate students who are pursuing joint HBS-Kennedy School courses of study.
