HWS News
23 July 2024 • Alums • STEM Dr. Friedman ’67 Endows Scholarship
Harold Friedman M.D., Ph.D. ’67 reaches back to support science education and opportunities.
“I feel like Hobart and William Smith is where my whole life started,” says Harold Friedman M.D., Ph.D. ’67.
A distinguished professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina, clinical professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Prisma Health/ University of South Carolina School of Medicine, and associate editor of the Annals of Plastic Surgery, Dr. Friedman has had a distinguished career in the medical field.
And when the accomplished surgeon and educator looks back, he says the first spark – for a lifelong passion for research and discovery – began as a research assistant in a botany lab, then a microbiology lab, at Hobart and William Smith.
“Not knowing something and just figuring out how things worked. I just loved it,” he says.
Friedman joins faculty in the Biology Department for a photo.
“I wanted to put my money where it could do the most good,” Friedman says. “I don’t think I’d be the person I am today if it weren’t for my education. And I’d like to encourage other people to follow my path and go into science.”
Friedman arrived at HWS for his first year of college at only 16 years old.
In addition to working at Saga, Friedman served as president of the Independent Council, treasurer of the Temple Club and secretary of Geneva Hall. He also taught himself how to play the guitar and often played gigs with his band on campus and in downtown Geneva.
Friedman says the trajectory of his life was completely set in motion, thanks to two years of mandatory Air Force ROTC service as a first-year and sophomore. As a graduate student at the University of Virginia, he was later drafted and commissioned as a second lieutenant serving at the Indiantown Gap Military Reservation in Pennsylvania in 1970.
During his service, the U.S. Army allowed Friedman to complete his Ph.D., then deferred him through medical school and his surgical internship, eventually assigning him to the Letterman Army Research Institute at the Presidio in San Francisco.
Following that assignment, he finished his general surgery training followed by plastic surgery training at the University of Arizona. Throughout that time, he continued to pursue research interests and to publish in scientific journals.
“I continued to search for scientific understanding, which had first launched for me at HWS," Friedman says.
This year, Friedman returned to campus in April to give a lecture titled “Real Plastic Surgery” at the “Learning about Biology Over Lunch,” seminar series hosted by the Department of Biology.
“The talk was titled “real” plastic surgery, as in, what do we really do. Which is mostly reconstructive,” Friedman explains.
His other stops during the day included a meeting with pre-med students at the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Education. He also joined “Cell Biology” with Professor of Biology Sigrid Carle.
“I’m 77 years old. I’m still working. I’m still doing research. I have my residents that I’m training, and my medical students, who I’m teaching. It’s a great life,” Friedman says. He welcomes students at HWS to contact him to discuss careers in research and medicine.
