Their professional contributions led to groundbreaking vaccine development, life-saving cancer care and transformative drug discovery. Their support of their alma mater includes student scholarships, endowed professorships and legacy gifts.
And at Merrimack College’s Evening of Gratitude Celebration on Sept. 18, three Warriors were honored with the Distinguished Alumni Awards in recognition for their achievements in their fields, their impact on society and their embodiment of Merrimack’s mission.
Laurence Demers, Ph.D., ’60, H’11, Nancy J. Sullivan, Sc.D., ’80, H’15 and Richard Connell, Ph.D., ’84 were each presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award by Merrimack College President Christopher E. Hopey, Ph.D., as part of the event. The Distinguished Alumni Award is Merrimack College’s highest alumni honor. It celebrates graduates whose accomplishments reflect the power of a Merrimack education, advance the reputation of the College and serve as an inspiration for future generations of Warriors.
“These alumni represent the very best of Merrimack College,” President Hopey said. “Their experiences as students here set a foundation for truly world-changing discoveries and achievements in public health, cancer treatment and pharmaceuticals. Additionally, their support of Merrimack over the years has ensured future generations of Warriors have the opportunities to have even greater successes.”
Laurence Demers, Ph.D., ’60, H’11
Throughout his home, Laurence Demers’ Merrimack pride is on full display. From diplomas to photos to gifts, guests quickly notice the profound impact the College had on his life. And during a renowned medical and research career, he has sought to return that impact.
“I always felt that if I did anything with my life and succeeded, that I wanted to give back to those parts of my life that gave me my education,” said Demers. “And Merrimack was one of those places.”
It was at Merrimack where he forged the building blocks for an incredible healthcare career, most notably at M.S. Hershey Medical Center of The Pennsylvania State University, where he is a professor emeritus. He has published 700 papers and helped develop aromatase inhibitors, which are now the standard of care for treating women with breast cancer. It was at Merrimack where he saw pioneering faculty not only teach, but mentor students. And it was at Merrimack where he met his wife, Susan.
“I didn’t have the mentorship until I got to Merrimack,” said Demers, “So that’s where I realized that when you’re coming up through the ranks, particularly younger faculty, you really need support.”
Among his generosity and contributions to Merrimack College are an endowed professorship in the life sciences, which supports the scholarship of leading faculty. He has also helped to provide access for students to pursue a college degree through the establishment of three scholarships. He also shared his expertise and counsel as a Board of Trustees chair and member, as well as a member of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences Board of Advisors.
“I’m pleased with the way things have gone,” Demers said. “And to get this Distinguished Alumnus Award at this phase in my life, this is like the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae.”
Nancy J. Sullivan, Sc.D., ’80, H’15
On a bookshelf in Nancy Sullivan’s office at Boston University sits a textbook that represents a turning point in her life. It is the textbook she used in a Merrimack College undergraduate biochemistry course in the late 1970s with Professor George Wermers. It is a regular reminder of the professor and the College that changed the trajectory of her life.
“Merrimack was the switch,” said Sullivan. “We need instructors like Dr. Wermers. I remember he was lecturing on amino acids and how they make up proteins, and he made it sound so fascinating. It is so important to have teachers who can do that.”
The Merrimack College foundation that Sullivan built her career on led her to becoming an internationally respected leader in viral immunology, emerging diseases prevention and infectious disease research. From COVID-19 to the Ebola outbreak in the mid 2010s, Sullivan has been at the forefront of vaccine development and therapeutic response at the global level.
“Merrimack College is such a caring community,” she said. “You can feel the Augustinian principles throughout the College. The ability to study liberal arts was important in my development as a person. And the environment of learning that was influenced by those Augustinian principles pointed me in the direction I ended up in.”
She and her team were the first to demonstrate vaccine protection against Ebola infection, leading to the development of the vaccine that was deployed for efficacy testing during the 2013-2016 outbreak, and a successful therapeutic that has saved hundreds of lives and is actively being used.
Today, she serves as a professor of virology, immunology and microbiology and a professor of biology at Boston University. She previously served as chief of the Biodefense Research Section at the Vaccine Research Center in the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Richard Connell, Ph.D. ’84
When it came time for his college decision, the question for Richard Connell wasn’t whether he was going to a Catholic institution, but which Catholic institution. And like his four older siblings and five younger siblings, he enrolled at Merrimack College.
“It was my parents’ vision,” said Connell of his parochial education. “I’m one of the few people who can say they went to Catholic school from kindergarten to Ph.D.”
Connell said his time at Merrimack College was all work. Originally a pre-med major his first semester, Connell ultimately made the change to study chemistry after meeting faculty while waiting for his older brother to finish his lab work.
He parlayed that undergraduate degree into a Ph.D. from Notre Dame and ultimately into a distinguished career as a pharmaceutical research executive.
He worked for both Bayer and Pfizer at posts in Germany, England, China and the U.S. He is an inventor on one of the two key patents for the drug now known as Tarceva®, a billion-dollar therapy that has been shown to improve overall survival in advanced non-small cell lung cancer and advanced pancreatic cancer. He is also listed as an inventor on more than 40 patents and patent applications, and has authored or coauthored more than 20 science publications.
To ensure students can have access to the same Merrimack College experience and successes he had, Connell and his wife, Nancy, established a student scholarship named for his mother, Rita. The only criteria is that scholarship recipients must be a first-generation student and come from a multi-child family, just like the Connells.
“For my wife and I, the scholarship in part reflects the generosity of Merrimack College,” Connell said. “With so many kids attending Merrimack at the same time, the College was very considerate of my mother’s needs.”
Connell is currently the U.S. and E.U. president and chief operating officer of WuXi AppTec, a global contract research services company.
