Helen W. Boucher ’86 Is First Woman Elected Chair of the Holy Cross Board of Trustees

Helen W. Boucher, M.D., FACP, FIDSA '86, a nationally respected infectious diseases physician and health care administrator, has been elected as chair of the Holy Cross Board of Trustees effective July 1, 2022.

A 1986 Holy Cross graduate who earned a degree in English before pursuing a career in medicine, Dr. Boucher will be the first woman to lead the Board of Trustees. Her initial term as board chair is four years.

Dr. Boucher currently serves as dean ad interim for Tufts University School of Medicine and chief academic officer for Wellforce Health System, a role that was created for her in July 2021. She was instrumental in leading Wellforce’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is the first woman to lead the Tufts School of Medicine in its 128-year history. Dr. Boucher is professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. She previously served as chief of the Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Tufts Medical Center and director of the Stuart B. Levy Center for Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance at Tufts.

"I am thrilled to welcome Helen Boucher as the new chair of the Board of Trustees," said Holy Cross President Vincent D. Rougeau. "Upon her selection as interim dean and chief academic officer at Tufts, her colleagues praised her 'ability to connect with people on a personal level and mobilize teams to tackle and overcome the most daunting of challenges.' We are delighted that Holy Cross will now benefit from Helen's extraordinary leadership skills and passion for the College and its Jesuit mission."

Dr. Boucher's clinical interests include infections in immunocompromised patients and S. aureus infections. She is the chair of the National Institutes of Health Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group Innovations Working Group, and serves on the Executive and Steering Committees. In addition, Dr. Boucher is the author or coauthor of numerous abstracts, chapters and peer-reviewed articles, and has served as associate editor and editor of prominent periodicals and other publications.

She has been included in Best Doctors in America since 2009, and has been elected Fellow and Member of the Board of Directors of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (2011), to the American Board of Internal Medicine Infectious Disease Exam Writing Committee (2012), and to the American Board of Internal Medicine Infectious Diseases Subspecialty Board (2014). In 2015, Dr. Boucher was appointed a voting member of the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, and elected treasurer of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. She was awarded the IDSA Society Citation Award in October, 2015.

"The board was honored and excited to unanimously elect Helen to her new role as chair," said Chair Rick Patterson '80. "Helen's expertise managing complex organizations, coupled with her unabating love for Holy Cross, will serve her well as she supports and promotes President Rougeau's bold vision for the College. I commend Stan Grayson '72, chair of the Trusteeship Committee, for enthusiastically endorsing Helen's candidacy and rewarding Holy Cross with an exceptional leader at an important time in the College's history."

A longtime volunteer at Holy Cross, Dr. Boucher has served on the Board of Trustees since 2014, and as Vice Chair since 2021. Dr. Boucher has served on the College's Trustee Committee on Mission, Trustee Finance Committee, Trustee Executive Committee, and Trustee Committee on Academic Affairs. A member of the President's Council, she has been the featured speaker at the College's "Women in Science" event. In 2021, she received the Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade the College bestows on alumni, for her extraordinary commitment and leadership in critical fields throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Boucher's selection as chair fortuitously coincides with the College's 50th anniversary of the first women students being admitted to Holy Cross, to be celebrated during the 2022-23 academic year.

A resident of Wellesley Hills, MA, Dr. Boucher is married to fellow Crusader Norm Boucher '85, and they have two daughters.