Richard W. Hanson may be an award-winning professor, a renowned biochemist and a four-time “Million Dollar Professor”—an award given by the School of Medicine in recognition of the numerous National Institutes of Health grants he’s received—but when it comes to realizing his goals, there’s still one he’s yet to achieve.
That may sound impossible, given Hanson’s résumé: As the Leonard and Jean Skeggs Professor of Biochemistry and a Distinguished University Professor, Hanson is renowned for his research in metabolism, having authored more than 260 publications and co-founding local gene therapy company Copernicus Therapeutics. In 2007, he made headlines around the world for development of PEPCK-Cmus mice—genetically engineered mice with greatly enhanced endurance.
Throughout the years, he’s earned local and national honors, including—but certainly not limited to—the Maurice Saltzman Award from Mt. Sinai Medical Center, the William C. Rose Award of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; induction into Cleveland Magazine’s Medical Hall of Fame; the ASBMB-Merck Award; and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science.
On campus, in addition to his Distinguished University Professor honor, he’s earned the Frank and Dorothy Humel Hovorka Prize; the Student Committee on Medical Education Faculty Teaching Award for Preclinical Teaching; the School of Medicine’s Special Medical Alumni Association Service Award; The Kaiser-Permanente Award for Excellence in Medical School Teaching, and the John S. Diekhoff Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching.
It’s a long list of honors for Hanson, who joined the faculty in 1978. So what’s the one goal that escapes him still? Check out question No. 3 below.
1. What superpower would you most like to have?
To be able to leap over tall buildings in a single bound.
2. What’s your favorite place to dine in Cleveland?
2425 North Park Blvd. Cleveland Heights, OH—my wife is a great cook.
3. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Joe DiMaggio, who else?
4. What accomplishments are you most proud of—personally and professionally?
Making it this far on such limited talent!
5. What’s your favorite thing about Case Western Reserve University?
Our students and my wonderful colleagues; they are great!