Herman R Shepherd

Herman R Shepherd, better known as Shep, died peacefully on Monday March 28 at the Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield, CT. He was a resident of New Canaan for 47 years. He was the husband of Carol Ruth Shepherd for 68 years.

Born in New York City on May 20, 1921, he was the son of Benjamin and Gertrude Shapiro. He proudly spent his childhood in Brooklyn. After graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School, he went to Cornell University where he received a B.S. in Botany and Plant Pathology in 1943. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. He taught radar to Army Air Corps students. He was assigned to operate radar equipment on the victory ship USS Taos Victory for seven months. This journey took him around the world.

In 1955, he founded Aerosol Techniques in Bridgeport, Connecticut, which later became Armstrong Pharmaceuticals. He spearheaded funding for the nation’s first research laboratory dedicated to aerosol pharmaceuticals at Columbia University’s College of Pharmacy. He had more than 50 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, was a world-renowned expert on aerosol medications holding several patents on aerosol products, and authored Aerosols: Science and Technology, the first definitive text on the potential of aerosol medications. He received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters form Villanova University for work he did in his field. Armstrong was acquired by a British multi-national pharmaceutical company in 1993.

Shep’s friendship with Albert Sabin inspired him to found the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Institute with Dr. Sabin’s widow, Heloise Sabin, in 1993. He served as Chairman of the Institute's Board of Trustees for more than 15 years and was its President for eight years. He was passionately committed to the Institute's mission to reduce the needless suffering of the world's poorest one billion people from vaccine preventable and neglected tropical diseases. In 2001, at the age of 80, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from The George Washington University for his efforts in the treatment of asthma as well as in the field of immunology. Dr. Shepherd was a member of the National Academy of Sciences Presidents’ Circle and Einstein Society and headed its Library Outreach Program. He was appointed adjunct professor in the Department of Microbiology and Tropical Medicine at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC.

In 2002, Dr. Shepherd founded The Cancer Vaccine Consortium with the aim to gather the collective knowledge of the scientific community to overcome hurdles for cancer vaccine development. Shep had always firmly believed that "all of us are smarter than one of us". Supported by his vision and leadership the Consortium partnered in 2008 with the Cancer Research Institute to form the premier organization dedicated to cancer immunotherapy. It contributed to the creation of a new scientific paradigm, which found use in the recent successful development of Yervoy, an immunotherapy for patients with metastatic melanoma, approved by the FDA on March 25 2011. Axel Hoos, M.D., Ph.D. Co-chairman of The Cancer Consortium stated, “Shep's foresight has placed the Consortium on a successful path and taught us the value of collaboration to solve complex problems. He will be sorely missed."

He was an active member in the Young President’s Organization and the World Business Council. He and Carol Ruth traveled throughout the world in conjunction with these organizations, studying everywhere they went.

In addition to his wife Carol Ruth he is survived by their four children, John Shepherd and his wife Susan Tunick of Easton, CT, Marjorie Shepherd Loeper and her husband John of Ocean City, NJ, Beth Shepherd Peters and her husband Ken of New Canaan and Benjamin Shepherd and his wife Liz of Cambridge, MA as well as eight grandchildren, a great-granddaughter, nephews and nieces and his sister Laura Surks of West Hartford, CT.

Memorial donations can be made to Sabin Vaccine Institute, 2000 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 7100 Washington, DC 20006.