UC Irvine Alumni Association Honors School of Medicine Alumni at 2024 Lauds & Laurels

UC Irvine School of Medicine alumnus Harry Herr, MD (’69), a passionate supporter of medical education and one of the country’s leading urologists, was among 22 accomplished Anteaters to be recognized by the UC Irvine Alumni Association at the 2024 Lauds & Laurels Alumni Award Ceremony and Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Irvine on Oct.10. Now in its 53rd year, Lauds & Laurels is UC Irvine’s oldest tradition, recognizing outstanding individuals for their service to the community, professional excellence and campus involvement.

Herr is a urologic surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York. He graduated from UC Irvine School of Medicine in 1969 and completed residencies in general surgery and urology at UC Irvine Medical Center. After that, Herr completed fellowships at New York Hospital - Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he continues to practice as a urologic surgeon. His clinical expertise is in urologic oncology, urinary tract cancers, urethral cancer, kidney cancer and penile cancer. His preeminent expertise is in devising treatment strategies designed to cure and improve the quality of life of patients with bladder cancer. He has been recognized multiple times on Castle Connolly’s list of America’s Top Doctors. Research.com credits Herr with 574 publications and a world ranking of 2,748 (1,580 nationally) in medicine. 

Inspired by the achievements of UC Irvine’s School of Medicine and concerned about the growing financial burden on today’s medical students, Herr and his wife, Sherri M. Donat, MD, have become valued philanthropic partners. They have donated to the Department of Urology’s Curiosity and Innovation Laboratory and have funded general medical education scholarships.

In addition to Herr, Jonathan H. Chen, PhD (’09), MD (’11), a School of Medicine alumnus who is a medically trained physician-scientist and entrepreneur, was also recognized by the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences. Chen is now an assistant professor of medicine (biomedical informatics) and of biomedical data science at Stanford University. 

Read more about the event and this year's honorees. 

See more photos in the UCI Alumni Association's Flickr album.