College Announces 2007 Graduation Speakers
April 2007
The College of Arts and Sciences has selected Nobel laureate and alumnus Michael Brown and senior Thomas Flahive to speak at this year’s graduation ceremony.
Dr. Michael Brown is a graduate of Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Medicine. He is the Paul J. Thomas Professor of Medicine and Genetics and director of the Jonsson Center for Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.
Dr. Brown and his long-time colleague, Dr. Joseph Goldstein, together discovered the low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor, which controls the level of cholesterol in blood and in cells. They showed that mutations in this receptor cause familial hypercholesterolemia, a disorder that leads to premature heart attacks in one out of every 500 people. Their work laid the groundwork for the development of a class of drugs called statins, which block cholesterol synthesis, increase LDL receptors, lower blood cholesterol and prevent heart attacks. Statins are taken by more than 20 million people worldwide. Drs. Brown and Goldstein have received many awards for this work, including the 1985 Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology and the U.S. National Medal of Science. The Brown/Goldstein lab continues to study the synthesis of cholesterol and other lipids with the ultimate goal of understanding diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, liver failure and Alzheimer’s.
Senior Thomas Flahive is a diplomatic history major with a minor in economics. He is from Bedford, New Hampshire. Flahive worked with the Communication Within the Curriculum program as a speaking advisor and is a member of the steering committee for the Fox Leadership Program. After graduation, he will begin work in real estate private equity at Lazard Alternative Investments in New York.
The College of Arts and Sciences graduation ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 13, at 6:30 p.m. on Franklin Field.