To honor the significant accomplishments of men and women who spent part of their careers at Johns Hopkins, the Society of Scholars was created by the board of trustees in May 1967 on the recommendation of university president Milton S. Eisenhower.

The society--the first of its kind in the nation--inducts former postdoctoral fellows, and former junior or visiting faculty, who have gained marked distinction in their fields of physical, biological, medical, social or engineering sciences or in the humanities and for whom at least five years have elapsed since their last Hopkins affiliation.

The Committee of the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, whose members are equally distributed among the university's academic divisions, elects the scholars from candidates nominated by the academic divisions that have programs for postdoctoral fellows. The society currently has 356 members.

The 15 scholars elected in 1998 will be invested at an induction ceremony hosted by Provost Steven Knapp at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, at Evergreen House. At that time they will be presented with a diploma and a medallion on a black and gold ribbon to be worn with their academic robe. The induction will be followed by a dinner hosted by President William R. Brody.

The new Society of Scholars members will be recognized at commencement on May 21.

The following listing gives the names of the inductees, their postdoctoral years at Hopkins, their place of business and a short description of their accomplishments at the time of their election to the society.

J. Carl Barrett (1974-77), Research Triangle Park, N.C. J. Carl Barrett's research is centered on the relationship between aging and cancer, the genes involved in cellular senescence and apoptosis, the role of BRCA-1 as a tumor suppressor gene and the function of KAI-1, a newly cloned prostate cancer metastasis suppressor gene. He is the scientific director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, associate editor of Cancer Research and editor-in-chief of Molecular Carcinogenesis and has been chairman, organizer or keynote speaker at numerous professional conferences and symposia.

Harvey W. Bender Jr. (1967-71), Nashville, Tenn. During his 11-year tenure at Hopkins and, later, as professor of surgery and now as chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Vanderbilt University, Harvey Bender has earned wide recognition as an outstanding pediatric cardiac surgeon. He is a noted expert on all pediatric cardiac anomalies, and is particularly well-known for his surgical skills in managing complete transposition of the great vessels.

Tibor Borsos (1958-62), Chevy Chase, Md. Tibor Borsos' career can be divided into three major areas: research related to the role of Rous sarcoma virus in the pathogenesis of cancer; a lifelong interest in complement and complement-mediated lysis; and pioneering investigations on the immunology of tumors, studies which led to the first clinical trial of BCG in the treatment of bladder cancer. Borsos spent most of his career at the National Cancer Institute, where, at the time of his retirement in 1988, he was chief of the Laboratory of Immunobiology. Until 1994, he served as research professor of pathology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Lonnie S. Burnett (1962-76), Nashville. Lonnie Burnett is well-known for his contributions in gynecological oncology. At Hopkins he is a major force in the School of Medicine's alumni organization and is recognized especially for launching the Howard Kelly Society for the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Burnett has published extensively on the use of chemotherapeutic agents for ovarian cancer and is the co-author of the 11th edition of the textbook Novak's Gynecology, which originated at Johns Hopkins. His numerous awards include the H. Graham Wait Jr. Memorial President's Award, given in recognition of outstanding research and education contributions in the field of gynecology/obstetrics.

Lanny Garth Close (1972-74), New York City. Lanny Close is a leader in academic otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. After serving on the faculties of the University of Texas Medical School and of the Southwestern Medical School, he moved to Columbia University, where he is the Howard Smith Professor and chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. He serves on the editorial review boards of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Laryngoscope and Cancer.

Claes H. Dohlman (1952-53), Boston. Claes Dohlman's major contributions to medicine have been in the fields of diseases, physiology and biochemistry of the cornea and in experimental pathology of the cornea. He developed and was director of the corneal service of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, where many current experts in the field received their training. The recipient of numerous awards, including the Friedenwald, Bjerrum and Proctor lectureships, Dohlman is currently adjunct senior scientist at the Eye Research Institute.

Ari Gafni (1973-75), Ann Arbor, Mich. Ari Gafni has made major contributions to the understanding of aging. He not only has studied protein changes in the elderly and the comparison of proteins in old and young cells, but he and his colleagues developed many of the specialized spectroscopic techniques used in these studies. Currently a professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan, Gafni has held a U.S. State Department training fellowship and the Glasberg Career Development Chair in Physical Biochemistry. Recipient of the Kellogg Presidential Initiative Award, he also is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.

Andre Goffeau (1964-67), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Andre Goffeau has had a very productive career, highlighted by a number of important discoveries and accomplishments in the field of genetics. His often pioneering work includes having led the worldwide team that recently completed the entire sequence of the yeast genome. A major contributor to biotechnology programs in Europe and an organizer of several scientific conferences, Goffeau is a Professor Extraordinaire at the Universite Catholique de Louvain in Belgium.

Jack B.L. Howell (1957-58), Southampton, United Kingdom. Jack Howell has made outstanding contributions leading to a greater understanding of the control of breathing in health and disease and the mechanism of breathlessness. His clinical work was dominated by the management of asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Currently, he is a professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Southampton, chairman of the Southampton and Southwest Hampshire Health Authority and chairman of the Board of Science and Education of the British Medical Association.

Gianni Marone (1976-79), Naples, Italy. Gianni Marone is an internationally renowned figure in the world of clinical immunology and allergy and the recognized leader of the discipline in Italy. As a professor of medicine and the director of the Section of Clinical Immunology and Allergy at the University of Naples Federico II, he has trained a generation of young investigators in the field. Worldwide understanding of the pathogenesis of allergic disease has been enriched by his outstanding research and publications. Currently president of the Italian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, he has served as consultant to the Ministry of Health in Rome and to the World Health Organization. He has received numerous awards from the Italian government and European medical societies.

Trevor Martin Penning (1976-82), Philadelphia. Trevor Penning's research on the enzymology of steroid hormones has made him one of the premier investigators in the world in understanding the mechanism, structure and specificity of the family of hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases. He has not only achieved scientific distinction as a world leader in the field of steroid biochemistry but also commands the respect of his colleagues as an excellent teacher and administrator. A professor of pharmacology, obstetrics and gynecology, and biochemistry and biophysics, he is the associate dean for postdoctoral research training at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Bertram Pitt (1966-77), Ann Arbor, Mich. Bertram Pitt has spent his career investigating coronary circulation. With colleagues, he developed many methods that utilized radioactive substances for such studies, pioneering the application of the thallium scan for identification of ischemic areas in the myocardium. As professor of medicine and director of cardiology at the University of Michigan, he developed a strong research and training program. His accomplishments have been honored by membership in the American Physiological Society, the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

Christine E. Seidman (1978-81), Boston. Christine Seidman has made major contributions to the molecular approaches to understanding cardiac pathophysiology and the genetic approaches to understanding inherited human disorders. Work in her lab established the first genetic abnormality to explain hereditary hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. A professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, she was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and received the American Heart Association Clinician Scientist and Established Investigatorship awards.

Klaus Viktor Toyka (1974-76), Wurzburg, Germany. While a postdoctoral fellow at Hopkins, Klaus Toyka carried out seminal research that shaped his career investigating the immunological basis of neurological disorders including peripheral neuropathies, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory myopathies. Recently involved in studies of genetically determined disorders, he brought the "Hopkins model" of research and clinical care to Germany when he assumed the chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Wurzburg in Germany.

David C. U'Prichard (1975-78, 1984-86), King of Prussia, Penn. David U'Prichard's career has focused on pharmacology. He served as senior vice president and scientific director for Nova Pharmaceuticals Corporation before being recruited by British Zeneca Group PLC, where he became the international research director. In 1997, he became president of research and development at SmithKline Beecham. In this position he is responsible for the daily operations of the company's laboratories and nearly 5,000 preclinical development activities worldwide. He serves as an honorary professor at Glasgow University Institute of Biomedical & Life Sciences and holds adjunct teaching posts at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Northwestern University School of Medicine.