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OWCC 1990 Distinguished Alumnus Recipient: Thomas
Tedder, Ph.D.
Thomas F. Tedder is a 1976 graduate of Okaloosa-Walton
Community College where he received his Associate of Arts degree
in Biological Sciences. He is now a cell biologist with the Dana-Farber
Cancer Institute, Wellesley, Mass., and a lecturer in Immunology
at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
Tedder has published numerous articles on cancer
research and is making major contributions toward understanding
and curing this disease. The college is extremely proud of Tedder's
contribution to science and its role in helping him get to where
he is today.
Tedder's own words tell the story:
As a Molecular Cell Biologist/Immunologist at Dana-Farber
Cancer Institute, my days are filled with searching for answers
to the cancer puzzle. I have traveled a varied and seemingly long
road in my pursuit for answers to questions about the workings of
normal and malignant cells, but it is a journey that would not have
begun if not for my years at Okaloosa-Walton Community College.
During my first year at OWCC, I enrolled in a botany
class taught by Professor Herb Cash. Without question, that class
was the inception for my thirst for science and the beginning of
my pursuit of knowledge about how cells work. That pursuit has lead
to my present endeavors in cancer research.
The direction of my scientific efforts took form
during my second year, again with Professor Cash as my teacher.
Professor Cash taught the most fascinating and informative course
in microbiology, an experience that ultimately would lead me to
both bachelor and master degrees in microbiology and my present
career. Professor Cash took a personal as well as professional interest
in the students in his classes, instilling in them an enthusiasm
for biology.
Although he demanded excellence from his students,
often to their great dismay, I am sure the lessons learned by each
student benefit them for years to come. I feel that I am an example
of how his guidance and inspiration can encourage a young mind to
pursue things they would not have otherwise dreamed. After leaving
OWCC, my further studies in the biological sciences were greatly
accelerated because of the solid background that I had obtained
in the Biology Department of OWCC. This background provided me with
many opportunities to jump ahead to more advanced courses without
difficulty or reservation.
Eleven years later, my early experiences at Okaloosa-Walton
continue to play an important role in my life. As an Assistant Professor
of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and a principal investigator
in the Division of Tumor Immunology at Dana-Farber, I often think
of Professor Cash and how he insisted that I work to the limit of
my potential. I know that his encouragement and persistence laid
the foundation of my work ethic and interest in the biological sciences
so integral to my work today. OWCC and its faculty played a critical
role in providing the guidance necessary to insure a successful
continuation of my education at the University of Florida and to
the completion of my Ph.D. at the University of Alabama in Birmingham
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