Past President, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dr. John Mendelsohn has been President of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center since 1996. Under his direction, MD Anderson has been named the top cancer hospital in the United States six of the past eight years in U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” survey.

Dr. Mendelsohn served for 10 years as the founding editor of Clinical Cancer Research and on numerous editorial boards. His many awards include the Joseph H. Burchenal Clinical Research Award (American Association for Cancer Research, 1999), the David A.Karnofsky Memorial Award (American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2002), the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal (2005), the Dan David Prize in Cancer Therapy (2006), the Dorothy P. Landon – AACR Prize for Translational Research (2008), and the Lifetime Achievement Award (10th International Workshop on Molecular Targeted Therapy of Cancer, 2009).

After earning a bachelor’s degree in biochemical sciences magna cum laude from Harvard College, Dr. Mendelsohn received his medical degree cum laude from Harvard Medical School. From 1970-1985 he served at the University of California, San Diego where he founded and directed a NCI-designated cancer center. From 1985-1996, Dr. Mendelsohn chaired the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center where he helped pioneer targeted anti-receptor therapy as a cancer treatment.