Presentation of the Morris F. Collen Award to Jean-Raoul Scherrer, MD

The American College of Medical Informatics is an honorary society established to recognize those who have made sustained contributions to the field. Its highest award, for lifetime achievement and contributions to the discipline of medical informatics, is the Morris F. Collen Award. Dr. Collen's own efforts as a pioneer in the field stand as the embodiment of creativity, intellectual rigor, perseverance, and personal integrity.At most once a year, the College gives its highest recognition to those whose attainments have, throughout their careers, substantially advanced the science and art of medical informatics. In 2000, the College was proud to present the Collen Award to Professor Jean-Raoul Scherrer. It is especially appropriate that we draw attention to the work of a distinguished European informatician, because ideas in Europe are somewhat different from ours and complementary. In the early days of the field, a lot of experiments were really essential, and Professor Scherrer was one of the pioneers.Jean-Rauol Scherrer was born in the Canton of Jura, Switzerland, in October 1932 but has lived most of his life in Geneva, Switzerland. He went to college in Fribourg, at a Jesuit School called College of Saint Michel, and followed the classical pathway—ancient Greek, Latin, and strong mathematics studies. In 1959, he graduated from the Medical School of the University of Geneva, where he studied physiology and internal medicine. Professor Scherrer: My first interest was to become a writer. Since I was not particularly convinced I was right, because I was too young, I decided to visit a famous author who was living quite close to where I was. And I asked him the question. And he said, “Well, as I see you, I would recommend that you become a doctor instead of becoming a writer.” So, I did it! From 1967 until 1969, …