Awards

Distinguished Alumni Service Award (2017)

Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion (2015)

IU School of Medicine Commencement

Presenter: Jay Hess

About Kent Brantly

Dr. Kent Brantly is an IU School of Medicine alum, internationally known for his involvement in the most recent Ebola outbreak. Dr. Brantly delivered the commencement address for his alma mater in May, 2015. Just 13 months after Ebola first plagued the West African nation, Liberia officially marked the end of the epidemic, which was responsible for the deaths of more than 4,700 men, women and children. Officials said it had been 42 days since the last new case of Ebola in Liberia, twice the number of days considered the maximum incubation period for the virus.

At the time of the outbreak, Dr. Brantly was working as a medical missionary with Samaritan's Purse, and was appointed the medical director for the only Ebola treatment unit in southern Liberia. He contracted the virus in late July and was evacuated to an isolation unit at Emory University Hospital, becoming the first person to be treated on American soil for the virus.