Achieving excellence requires extraordinary commitment, a truth evident in the accomplishments of alumna Fong Wang Clow SM ’86, ScD ’89, senior vice president and head of biometrics and data management at Pharmacyclics, who received this year’s Lagakos Distinguished Alumni Award.
The Lagakos Award ceremony took place on October 3 at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center. After an introduction by department chair John Quackenbush that touched on the legacy of beloved former chair Steve Lagakos, Clow delivered a lecture that traced her path from rural China to Harvard to the biotech industry, where she played a key role in getting U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for seven different cancer drugs, along with the only drug approved for treating stroke.
Throughout her presentation, Clow attributed her many successes to her mentors, her hard work and perseverance, and the confidence she developed to speak her truth, both at Harvard and beyond. Former executives from Pharmacyclics, Robert Duggan and Maky Zanganeh made brief remarks that supported these observations, commending Clow for never shying away from difficult work and urging students to look to her as a model. For more on the event, see this recent featured news story.
