WASHINGTON (AP) – Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of the U.S. government’s pandemic response, has donated his personal 3D model of the COVID-19 virus to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
On Tuesday, the museum honored Fauci with its Medal for Great Americans.
“Dr. Fauci has helped save millions of lives and has advanced the treatment and our understanding of infectious and immunological diseases for more than five decades of public service, ”said Anthea M. Hartig, museum director. “His humanitarianism and dedication really exemplify what it means to be a great American.”
The museum asked Fauci to provide a personal artifact to mark the pandemic and chose the blue and orange ball he used to explain the complexity of the virus in dozens of interviews.
The model was made with a 3D printer and shows what the Smithsonian ad calls “the various components of the SARS-CoV-2 virion (the complete infectious form of the virus), including the ear protein.”
Fauci showed off her new medal in a video call Tuesday night, calling it an “extraordinary and humble” honor.
“This has been a terrible year in many ways,” he said. “In decades to come, people will talk about the experience we’ve had.”
Fauci, 80, is the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. After serving as a harassed face and often on the sidelines of the Trump administration’s COVID response, Fauci remained as a senior adviser to President Joe Biden.
The Great American Medal was founded in 2016. Previous honorees include former Secretaries of State Madeleine K. Albright and General Colin L. Powell, tennis star Billie Jean King and musician Paul Simon.
Fauci received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian award, in 2008 from then-President George W. Bush for his decades of work, dating back to the early days of the AIDS crisis.