Photos by Lee Pellegrini
Hariharan (Harry) Shanmugam, a member of the Boston College Class of 2021, is driven to use his knowledge, interests, and skills to make society a better place by addressing health disparities and advancing public health. At Boston College's 144th Commencement Exercises on May 24, University President William P. Leahy, S.J., presented Shanmugam with the Edward H. Finnegan, S.J., Award, given annually to the graduating senior who best exemplifies Boston College鈥檚 motto 鈥淓ver to Excel.鈥�
A member of the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program, Shanmugam has a stellar academic record and graduated summa cum laude from the Carroll School of Management, with a concentration in accounting for finance and consulting and a major in biology.
The Hopkinton, Mass., resident fell in love with 集美麻豆during his senior year of high school when he visited campus as a prospective Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program student.
鈥淚 remember being blown away by the people I talked to. We stayed up late in the dorm talking about God, politics, and architecture. It was one of those quintessential college moments, and I remember thinking, 鈥業 want this.鈥�
鈥溂缆槎箇as so clearly that place where I was going to have people who cared about me, a real sense of community, mentors who want to see you succeed, and friends who challenge you and make you grow. It鈥檚 been borne out every single day I鈥檝e been at BC.鈥�
The presentation of this year's Finnegan Award to Harry Shanmugam by 集美麻豆President William P. Leahy, S.J., at University Commenement, as 集美麻豆Board of Trustees chair John Fish looks on.
Shanmugam has combined his interests in medicine and science, business, and policy in his academic work, which includes two published articles and another under review.
As an Undergraduate Research Fellow for BC鈥檚 Global Pollution Observatory, he was a member of an interdisciplinary team of more than 40 scientists from 18 countries who developed a major report on 鈥淗uman Health and Ocean Pollution.鈥� Shanmugam worked with Global Public Health Director Philip Landrigan, M.D., and scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to develop a case study of the health and economic benefits that resulted from the Boston Harbor restoration. He was a contributing author to a paper from the study that was published in Annals of Global Health.
Said Landrigan, 鈥淗arry鈥檚 background in management and accounting enabled him to contribute uniquely to this endeavor by computing the return on investment from the Boston Harbor clean-up, information that is of critical importance to policy makers who need to understand that the large up-front costs of a major environmental restoration such as the Boston Harbor clean-up can be recovered many times over through such benefits as the rebuilding of fish and shellfish stocks, increased tourism, and improvement in human health and well-being.鈥�
Shanmugam spent the summer of 2019 in Mexico as a research fellow for the National Institute for Public Health where he conducted research, in Spanish, on dietary fiber intake and urinary creatinine. He was primary author of an article about the study that was published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research.
鈥淸Harry] is thoughtful, caring, and deeply committ