Service to the Community Award

DR. EDUARDO P. DOLHUN, ARTS '88

San Francisco

Dr. Eduardo Dolhun believes that there is nothing more fulfilling than helping another person. His work brings him in direct contact with individuals in need of that help, whether it is in his private clinic or disaster areas globally.

A focus of his work has been pursuing a more effective solution for dehydration-related illnesses. According to the World Health Organization, dehydration accounts for almost 2 million deaths annually in children under the age of 5— or roughly 19 percent of all child deaths globally, more than the total of AIDS and malaria combined. Dehydration can also exacerbate many common illnesses, and it impairs physical and mental performance in healthy individuals.

Eduardo's relief efforts have taken him to Haiti in the days after the devastating earthquake and Pakistan during the devastating floods of 2010. He and his team have treated thousands of disaster victims and saved hundreds of lives using oral rehydration therapy. These missions have been chronicled by CNN. He also promotes primary health care to rural communities globally through Doctors Outreach Clinics, a humanitarian medical organization he founded. He was recognized on the Oprah Winfrey Show as a person making a positive impact on society.

Noting there was a major innovation gap in oral rehydration solutions, Eduardo also founded Drip Drop Inc. The company develops and markets advanced oral rehydration solutions, and it donates a portion of profits to fighting dehydration around the world. “Oral rehydration therapy is recognized as one of the 20th century’s most important medical advances, and yet it remains relatively unknown and certainly underutilized in the U.S.,” says Eduardo. “I want to change that in my lifetime.”

Eduardo has been practicing family medicine in San Francisco since 1999. He also lectures at Stanford University Medical School, where he has been co-director of Ethnicity in Medicine since 2000.

Eduardo credits Marquette with providing what he calls three key factors of a well-rounded education: “Dynamic city and inner-city experiences, great mentors, and a world-class training in the humanities and the sciences.”

Doing all he can to live a philanthropic life, Eduardo echoes the words of Jose Ortega y Gasset, who said, “I am I and my situation, the world around me, and if I don’t engage it, I don’t change myself.”

One person, one community at a time, Eduardo’s work is changing lives.