Donald Heppner

Donald Gray Heppner Jr. (Col ’78, Med ’83 L/M) received the Kiwanis International 2009 World Service Medal for his role in the development of a promising vaccine against malaria, a disease that kills 3,000 children every day. Col. Heppner is deputy commander of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md., named for Maj. Walter Reed (Med 1869). The institute’s mission is to develop FDA-approved drugs and vaccines to protect against HIV/AIDS, malaria, diarrhea, dengue fever, leishmaniasis and other tropical diseases. Working with GlaxoSmithKline, his team of scientists conducted studies in Africa, Asia, Europe and the U.S. of the most promising malaria vaccine, known as RTS,S. Col. Heppner and his wife, Mary Leach Heppner (Col ’82 L/M); and their son, William, live in Vienna, Va. Their daughters, Charlotte Heppner (Col ’10 L/M) and Virginia Heppner (Col ’12 L/M), are the most recent Wahoos in the family.