Our outstanding alums

The College recognized four exceptional graduates with 2024 CBS Alumni Awards.
November 01, 2024

Each year, the College celebrates alumni achievement with three awards: CBS Alumni Achievement Award, CBS Emerging Leader Award, and CBS Service Award. With more than 20,000 living alumni around the world, the impact of our alumni is felt far and wide. This year’s recipients embody the drive to discover and make a difference.

Alumni Achievement Award

Chris Contag

Christopher Contag (B.S. Biology, ’82) graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.S. in biology and a Ph.D. in microbiology. He is the James and Kathleen Cornelius Endowed Chair in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology at Michigan State University. He is also the founding director of the Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering and the inaugural chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Previously, Dr. Contag was a faculty member at Stanford University School of Medicine where he served as associate chief of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, director of Stanford’s Center for Innovation in In Vivo Imaging, and co-director of the Molecular Imaging Program. He is one of the co-inventors of in vivo bioluminescence imaging that is used worldwide to refine animal models of human biology and disease; hundreds of new drug applications to the FDA are based on data from this imaging approach. He is the author of over 350 publications and his work has been cited more than 30,000 times.

Bill Fraser

After completing his graduate degree, Bill Fraser (Ph.D. Ecology, ’89) went on to conduct research at Palmer Station, Antarctica. Now the longest-running multidisciplinary marine research program in the world, he and colleagues founded the Palmer Long-Term Ecological Program more than three decades ago. Researchers associated with the program focus on illuminating the mechanistic processes that link climate change to marine ecosystem response, from the deep ocean to the upper atmosphere, and from microbes to whales. Dr. Fraser also launched a nonprofit to support the program called Polar Oceans Research Group. He is semi-retired and continues to contribute through work with the nonprofit on data syntheses, publications and as an advisor on graduate student committees.

Emerging Leader Award

Courtney Burnett

Courtney Burnett (B.S. Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development ’13) received her M.D. from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine after completing her undergraduate studies. She went on to residency training in internal medicine at the University of Minnesota and is now a hospital medicine physician and assistant professor of medicine working at Regions Hospital. Just before starting her chief residency, Burnett was diagnosed with a rare form of malignant brain cancer. She saw this as an opportunity to raise awareness and help others going through their own difficult experiences. She is the author of the award-winning memoir, Difficult Gifts and creator of the patient-advocacy-focused blog, Elephant, Lotus, Brain Tumor. She spends her time outside of the hospital writing, speaking, and volunteering to raise awareness for brain cancer and patient advocacy.

Alumni Service Award

Jonathan Strong

An accomplished emergency medicine physician, educator, and humanitarian, Jonathan Strong (B.S. Microbiology, ’09) works in emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He has dedicated the last two years of his career to advancing trauma education in Ukraine. In collaboration with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Strong led efforts to procure and donate medical simulation equipment used to teach more than 3,000 Ukrainian healthcare workers, among other efforts. His interest in international humanitarian work began as an undergraduate at CBS during a study abroad trip to Kenya. The experience inspired him to pursue a dual M.D.-MPH degree. After completing his medical training, he also contributed to medical education projects in Nigeria, Pakistan, India, and Jordan.