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Two Eberly alumni receive 2019 Alumni Fellow Award

16 October 2019

Two alumni from the Eberly College of Science, Eliav Barr ’84 and Colonel (Ret.) Priscilla H. Hamilton ’78, have been selected along with 14 others to receive the 2019 Alumni Fellow Award, the most prestigious award given by the Penn State Alumni Association . Since 1973, the Alumni Fellow Award has been given to select alumni who, as leaders in their professional fields, are nominated by an academic college and accept an invitation from the President of the University to return to campus to share their expertise with students, faculty, and administrators.

Eliav Barr

Eliav Barr headshot

Eliav Barr is senior vice president and head of Global Medical Affairs at Merck Research Laboratories and has dedicated his career to developing medicines that prevent or treat life-threatening infectious disease. Barr has led the research efforts for Merck’s new drug ZEPATIER, which treats chronic Hepatitis C. This disease, if left untreated, could cause liver disease and failure in more than one million people by 2020.

Previously, Barr served as Merck’s vice president of Infectious Diseases, Global Clinical Development. Barr joined Merck & Co., Inc. in 1995 and in 1998 became the head of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine clinical program. Barr developed the clinical/regulatory strategy for the program; designed and managed 17 clinical studies involving over 30,000 subjects worldwide; developed a program to evaluate the economic impact and long-term efficacy of the HPV vaccine; and oversaw analyses of key clinical studies. The vaccine that was evaluated in these studies (GARDASIL®) has been licensed in over 100 countries. Barr has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and is known as a thoughtful leader in the fields of infectious disease and medicine.

After receiving his bachelor of science degree from Penn State, Barr earned a medical degree from the Jefferson Medical College in 1986 (summa cum laude) and completed an Internal Medicine residency, a Cardiology Fellowship, at Johns Hopkins in 1990. He subsequently pursued post-doctoral training at the University of Michigan and was on faculty at the University of Chicago prior to joining Merck. Barr was honored with the Eberly College of Science’s Outstanding Science Alumni Award in 2012.

Colonel (Ret.) Priscilla H. Hamilton

Priscilla Hamilton headshot

Colonel (Ret.) Priscilla H. Hamilton is retired from the U.S. Army after over 33 years of active service. Hamilton’s tenure included numerous command, staff, and operational assignments. She is a veteran of Desert Shield/Desert Storm, serving with the 257th Medical Detachment and the 5th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Her largest command was the U.S. Army Dental Command, responsible for all Army oral health care and dental clinics around the world. DENCOM operated 147 dental clinics globally and employed more than 5,000 dentists, hygienists, and dental assistants. Her final assignment was the chief of graduate dental education and dean of the Army Postgraduate Dental School.

Hamilton’s numerous U.S. Army awards include: the Legion of Merit (five awards), the Bronze Star, and the Meritorious Service Medal (six awards). She holds the Surgeon General’s “A” Designator, is a Distinguished Member of the Army Medical Department Regiment, and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Hamilton attained Mastership in the Academy of General Dentistry. She is a Fellow in the International College of Dentists, the American College of Dentists and the American College of Healthcare Executives. She is board certified by the Federal Services Board of General Dentistry and the American Board of General Dentistry.

She attended Penn State Behrend for two years and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Science with high distinction from University Park in 1978. She holds a DMD and is a Distinguished Alumna from the University of Pittsburgh, a master’s in healthcare administration from Baylor University, and a master’s in strategic studies from The U.S. Army War College.