2024

“My mother used to tell me, ‘You’ll catch more flies with sugar than with salt,’” says A.W. Karchmer, MD ’64, a longtime professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who has forged a renowned career as an infectious disease clinician. Karchmer has embraced this ethos, approaching his life from a foundation of kindness and infusing it into all his activities, including his enduring volunteer work at HMS. 

The chair of alumni relations since 2009, he helps to nurture lasting relationships among the alumni community and to strengthen connections between alumni and the School. He previously served as a member of the Alumni Council (2004–2007), including a stint as council president, and has helped to lead the fundraising efforts of his class as a Class Agent—a role he’s held since he was a fourth-year medical student. He also has collaborated with his classmates on Reunion Committees.

Still, when Karchmer found out that the Alumni Council had chosen him to receive the 2024 Distinguished Service Award for HMS Alumni, he was very surprised and certainly humbled. 

While his modesty masks his impact on HMS, those who know him well aren’t fooled.

“He’s an exemplar of the HMS volunteer,” says HMS Dean George Q. Daley, AB ’82, MD ’91, PhD, who called Karchmer a “remarkable servant” to his class. “And beyond his incredible support of the Medical School spanning many, many years, A.W. has been very much a wise counselor to me. His equanimity and generosity of spirit are unmatched.”

Karchmer is deeply entwined in the HMS community and uses his understanding of the alumni body to conceptualize, recruit speakers, and organize the annual Alumni Day Symposium. He also personally manages the recruitment of each Alumni Council candidate and maintains a connection with all the contenders even after the election has passed. 

His skills in bridging relationships show in his leadership as he often acts as a personal resource for all alumni, answering every call or concern, big or small. He is able to guide difficult and important conversations. As a vital part of many processes at HMS, he represents what’s best in alumni service, as his level of care and trustworthiness go unmatched. 

“We are all indebted to HMS for where we are,” he says of the School’s alums. “I had planned to take my career and volunteer roles year by year, but I thought to myself, ‘You are fortunate to be at one of the best places in the country, if not the world, why would you ever want to leave?’” 

While others may not stay as closely connected to HMS as he does, Karchmer says engagement can happen in all shapes and forms—personal philanthropy, feedback to the faculty, interest in the community, or support when issues arise. 

Karchmer has spent the majority of his career at HMS and its affiliated hospitals. He started with an internal medicine internship and residency, as well as fellowship training in infectious diseases, at Massachusetts General Hospital. He would later become the founding chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Deaconess Hospital, and when the hospital merged to become Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, he became the chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, serving from 1996 until 2008.

Until he attended Princeton University for his Bachelor of Arts degree, Karchmer had never been east of Knoxville, Tennessee. He thought he might head back south to be closer to home after earning his undergraduate degree, but he was motivated by Harvard’s reputation and by a very convincing distant cousin named Dr. Massey. He decided to apply to HMS even though he doubted his chances of acceptance.

“There was some second-guessing along the way, but I’ve never regretted doing what I did,” he says. “I’m sure my life would’ve been totally different had I gone elsewhere. I certainly would’ve never met my wife.”

While Karchmer is diligent in recognizing all those who have helped him throughout his career, he makes special mention of Barbara Karchmer, EdM ’62. “It was not easy for her, and I did the best I could to be around, but it was a busy time.” 

That busy time included mentoring more than 100 fellows, many of whom have gone on to lead infectious disease divisions across the country, and publishing over 200 original articles, book chapters, abstracts, and editorials in scientific journals. 

While his career is marked by prestige, it’s Karchmer’s commitment to others—the sugar, as he would say—that makes his work so meaningful.