The medal is one of the highest honors bestowed by U-M. It is named for Dr. Thomas Francis Jr., one of U-M's most distinguished scientists and public health heroes. Francis, a physician and epidemiologist at U-M, designed and led the massive Salk polio vaccine field trial involving 1.8 million children that led to his announcement from Rackham Auditorium on April 12, 1955 that the Salk vaccine was safe and effective. Sommer is emeritus dean for the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and has published five books and more than 250 scientific articles. He's received dozens of top honors, including the Lasker Award for Medical Research, and was the first recipient of the GVF prize of the German Association of Applied Vitamin Research.