UH and NSM Honor Suit at May Commencement

Dr. Herman D. Suit (’48) was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from the University of Houston during May commencement ceremonies. Suit received the honorary doctorate for his groundbreaking work in radiation oncology, for his many acts of philanthropy and public service, and for his longtime support of UH and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM).

“Dr. Suit is an extraordinary friend of NSM,” said Mark A. Smith, Dean of NSM. “The College has benefited greatly from his service on the Dean’s External Advisory Board and from his passionate interest in our students and faculty.”

Suit’s far-reaching support to NSM includes establishing a charitable annuity for endowed faculty support. He and his wife, Joan, also provide annual support for a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Chemistry. They visit UH at least once a year to keep in touch with the work of the postdoctoral fellow they support and to meet with NSM faculty.

“I have been extremely fortunate in the very high quality of teachers throughout my career,” Suit said. “My assessment is the number one teacher of this entire group of highly talented teachers was at the University of Houston. Dr. Eby Nell McElrath taught organic chemistry and had a career-changing impact on this young student.”

After receiving his B.Sc. in biology from UH, Suit completed a master’s degree in biochemistry and a medical degree, both from Baylor College of Medicine. He continued his training at Oxford University in England, receiving a D.Phil. in radiation biology. Following two years at the National Cancer Institute and 11 years at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, he moved to Boston as chief of radiation oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School.

Suit worked with physicist Michael Goitein in the initiation of curative proton radiation therapy of cancer patients in 1973 at the Harvard Cyclotron in collaboration with the physics team there. He and the MGH team were instrumental in the creation of the MGH’s Northeast Proton Therapy Center on the MGH main campus, the second hospital-based proton therapy center to be opened in the United States. Having stepped down as chief in 2000, Suit remains active in writing and teaching.