CAREER: Robert Connor was raised in Ossining, NY, the son of a chemical engineer who wanted his son to be a success. Connor earned an MIT bachelor’s degree in biology in 1975 and an MD from Washington University in St. Louis in 1979. A residency in pathology at the University of Minnesota followed; in 1983 he went into private practice and also became medical director of Lufkin Medical Laboratories in Minneapolis. Connor joined Clinical Pathology Labs in Austin as a pathologist in 1984, and two years later he became a partner. He is now chairman and CEO of the company, which expanded throughout Texas in the 1990s to become the largest regional laboratory in the Southwest.

Connor met his wife, Barbara, in Minneapolis and says she’s the woman of his dreams. They and their five children spend weekends and vacations on their ranch in Johnson City, TX, where–with no TV or Internet–they explore the hills, ride horses, fish, and enjoy the wildlife.

GIVING: Gift to support the Robert Emmet Connor Family Scholarship Fund.

QUOTE: “I wanted to help bright young people who may be struggling financially to have the unique opportunity of an MIT education. There are few institutions in the country that can do for someone what MIT can do. An MIT degree gave me instant credibility and opened so many doors. I felt I wanted to do something good for MIT, because it’s done so much good for me.”

For giving information, contact Kate Eastment:
(617) 452-2812; eastment@mit.edu
 Or visit giving.mit.edu.