Angelo State Alum Receives 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award

SAN ANGELO, TX — Angelo State University alumnus Dr. U. Shivraj Sohur has been selected to receive the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society.

A 1992 ASU graduate, Sohur will receive his award at the Alpha Chi national convention next April in Cleveland, Ohio. The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor an Alpha Chi member can receive, and Sohur will also speak at the national convention.

A native of Espérance Trébuchet on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, Sohur was inducted into ASU’s Alpha Iota chapter of Alpha Chi and went on to graduate summa cum laude with his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology. He earned his M.D. and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University and is currently a faculty member at Harvard Medical School in Boston and a part-time attending physician in the Division of Movement Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital.

In April 2018, Sohur joined Alkermes Inc. Research and Development, where he helps conduct clinical trials in neuropsychiatric disorders. He is also the founding president of the Global Foundation for Community Health, whose mission is to decrease the high rate of type II diabetes in Mauritius.

Also a dedicated researcher into neurological disorders, Sohur has been published in numerous medical and scientific journals and has presented his research at professional conferences and seminars all over the world. His community service activities include addressing Parkinson’s disease with various support groups and visiting schools to give science and medicine career pathways presentations to students.

Additionally, Sohur is an active ASU alumnus. He has granted and supervised internships for several ASU Honors Program students in his neurology lab at Harvard Medical School, and he spearheaded the formation of ASU’s Alumni Mentoring Program that connects Honors Program students with prominent alumni through Skype sessions and campus visits. In 2000, he was named the ASU Alumni Association’s Distinguished Carr Scholar Alumnus, and he gave the commencement address during ASU’s spring 2017 graduation ceremonies.

While at ASU, Sohur was also a member of the Student Senate, Beta Beta Beta national biology honor society and American Chemical Society, and was selected for “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.” He was also founder and president of the ASU East-West Fellowship and received the ASU Presidential Award as the top student in his graduating class.