As a researcher, physician, and teacher, Linda Boxer ’73 has advanced biomedical science while providing clinical care benefiting countless people worldwide. A Carleton chemistry major, Boxer enrolled at Stanford University, where she earned an MD/PhD in medicine and soon joined the School of Medicine faculty. Widely recognized as a top scientist in her field, Boxer focused her research on understanding several genes involved in aggressive forms of blood cancers, including lymphoma and acute leukemia, and discovered novel proteins and DNA elements important for the regulation and mis-regulation of cancer oncogenes. This earned her several accolades, including the J.E. Wallace Sterling Lifetime Achievement Award from Stanford and an invitation to co-chair the annual meeting of the American Society for Hematology.
In 2004 Boxer was appointed chief of the Division of Hematology, overseeing discoveries in areas as diverse as stem cells and the microbiome. In 2013 she was named vice dean of Stanford School of Medicine, a role she still holds. Under her leadership, the number of women faculty members has risen to almost 50 percent. Colleagues applaud her continued efforts to train the next generation of physicians as well as her dedication to caring for patients.