Paul Maddon
Science Talent Search – 1977
International Science and Engineering Fair – 1977
About Paul Maddon
Paul Maddon is a virologist, immunologist and entrepreneur. After competing in both STS and ISEF in 1977, he earned a doctoral degree from Columbia University and founded Progenics Pharmaceuticals. He has spent his career studying treatments for prostate cancer, hepatitis C and HIV, and is credited with identifying the gene receptors that allow HIV to enter the body. Maddon has served on multiple governmental scientific advisory boards and served on the Society’s Board of Trustees.
Science Talent Search 1977
Maddon with his STS project. After STS, Maddon wrote to Science Service (now called Society for Science), “I was so fond of you, your staff, meeting fellow science students, and the entire Westinghouse program that I promised myself I’d get into the International Science and Engineering Fair so I could experience this again.”
A Word of Advice
Paul Maddon is an active alumnus of the Society who encourages young scientists to pursue their theories with patience and curiosity. At the STS Alumni Conference in 2016 he said, “You have to be an optimist. You can’t get through years of toiling in a lab with failures without being one.”
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