D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser proclaimed today, Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, Anthony S. Fauci Day in Washington, D.C. It’s the good doctor’s 80th birthday.
The son of pharmacy owners in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn — a neighborhood, incidentally, known for the most extravagant lawn displays of Christmas lights in the five boroughs — Tony Fauci captained the basketball team at Regis High School in Manhattan, graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., and earned an M.D. from Cornell, first in his class.
Dr. Fauci has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, for 36 years. For 35 years, he has been married to Christine Grady, chief of the bioethics department at the NIH Clinical Center (who earned bachelor’s and doctoral degrees at Georgetown University and a master’s in nursing at Boston College). They have three adult daughters.
Taking note of the Faucis’ longtime residence in Wesley Heights and the honoree’s devotion to the Washington Nationals, the mayoral citation points out a few of Dr. Fauci’s accomplishments, notably: “he has been a shining light in dark times for the nation, promoting truth over fear and giving Americans hope in their government.”
Happy 80th, Doc! By hanging in there, a class act, you made our 2020 a little brighter.