The Road Less Traveled

The first annual Paul Gilligan Memorial Road Race drew more than 300 people to the banks of the Charles River on May 6 to celebrate the “golden boy” whose laugh still echoes through Eliot House and the University’s biology labs nearly one year after his death.

Paul F. Gilligan III ’05 died last June when he fell out the window of an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Participants in the 4.2-mile race were invited to make contributions to the Paul F. Gilligan III Foundation, which awards a $2,500 scholarship to a graduating senior at Gilligan’s alma mater, Haddon Township High School in New Jersey.

The foundation will also annually award a fellowship in his honor of $2,500 for purposeful summer study or travel to a resident of Eliot, where Gilligan lived during his time at the College. Vikram Viswanathan ’06 was selected by the Eliot House Fellowship Committee as the first recipient.

Gilligan racked up numerous honors in his short life—though, as his sister, Lindsey A. Gilligan ’08 said, Paul preferred receiving laughs to receiving praise.

He was valedictorian at his high school and graduated magna cum laude from the College with a degree in biology. He intended to enroll in medical school this fall.

In his senior year, he received the John Finley Fellowship through Eliot, funding what would have been his travel for a year post-graduation in Egypt and Europe to volunteer as a soccer coach and study soccer’s role in communities around the world.

He was also awarded the Charles Eliot Medal for his enthusiastic participation in the Eliot community.

“Paul always enjoyed sports as a fan and as a player from a very young age,” said his father, Paul F. Gilligan, Jr.

In high school, Gilligan received 10 varsity letters and won All-State honors in soccer. At Harvard, he was an avid participant in intramural (IM) athletics.

In Eliot, Gilligan was IM secretary and led his House to the Straus Cup in 2004—the first time Eliot won the House IM championship since 1983. He also led his House to the Agassiz Cup for IM crew in 2004. That same year, Gilligan received the first-ever IM Athlete of the Year Award.

While they admired his achievements in academics and athletics, friends and family alike were even more inspired by Gilligan’s personality and outlook on life.

“Paul was more than a gifted and tireless athlete. He was a joyful, gentle, and generous person,” said Eliot House Master Lino Pertile in his eulogy at a memorial service for Gilligan in September.

In what is known as his infamous “tongue-in-cheek” application for IM Athlete of the Year, Gilligan demonstrated the affable spirit that won him over in the hearts of all who met him.

He said he fought exhaustion walking from the finish line of the River Run after winning to cheer on other Eliot runners, and he described himself as the “spiritual leader” of the Eliot basketball team that won the championship game.

However, Gilligan also mentioned his “laughable attempt at the 100 individual medley” as one of the “must see events of the year,” showing that “not being good is no excuse for not coming out for an event.”

Gilligan’s sister Lindsey, who is also a Crimson photography editor, called Paul her best friend and mentor. “I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who didn’t like him,” she wrote in an obituary in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

In an e-mail, his blockmate Hani N. Elias ’05 wrote, “It’s not a question that he would have contributed greatly as a doctor. He has had an enormous impact on my own life.”

“I looked up to Paul, and I still hope I can emulate some of his traits,” he wrote.

As Gilligan’s father said, “he just made us proud every day of his life.”

—Staff writer Aditi Banga can be reached at abanga@fas.harvard.edu.