"Science as a Candle of Hope" To Be Theme of David Ho's Caltech Commencement Address

PASADENA—Dr. David D. Ho, the 1996 Time Man of the Year, will speak on "Science as a Candle of Hope" when he returns to his alma mater to give the Caltech commencement address.

Ho, one of the world's most noted AIDS researchers, will speak at the annual spring ceremony, which will begin at 10 a.m. Friday, June 13, on Beckman Mall on the Caltech campus. Approximately 218 undergraduates and 185 graduates are expected to receive their degrees at this year's commencement. The ceremony will mark the 100th anniversary of the Caltech Alumni Association, so it is particularly fitting that the speaker is a Caltech alumnus.

Ho, a 1974 Caltech graduate, is currently director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, an affiliate of Rockefeller University. Ho has made significant progress in fighting the disease with his "cocktail" of antiviral drugs that Time reported might eventually lead to a cure.

A native of Taiwan, the 44-year-old Ho immigrated to America with his family at the age of 12 and took up residence in central Los Angeles. Ho knew virtually no English when he arrived in America, but by the time of high school graduation was so well-integrated in the American education system that he was admitted to Caltech as a physics major. He later attended Harvard Medical School after redirecting his academic interests toward molecular biology, and has been an AIDS researcher since the mid-1980s.

The media and general public are invited to attend the commencement. For more information, contact Caltech Media Relations.