George Perez ’77

George, an AIDS researcher who was the principal investigator in a number of clinical trials for HIV treatment, died June 14, 2011, of cancer.

George grew up in Newark, N.J., and was the valedictorian at Seton Hall Preparatory School. After Princeton, he attended the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and did his medical residency and infectious-disease fellowship at St. Michael’s Medical Center in Newark. Later he was chief of the infectious-disease division and director of the infectious-disease fellowship program there. He received the Teacher of the Year Award so often that it was renamed the George Perez Excellence in Teaching Award. He also was a professor at Seton Hall University School of Health and Medical Sciences and was medical director of the New Jersey Clinical Research Initiative.

His Princeton roommates — who were on the football team — remember that George never missed a home game. “Calling George ‘unselfish’ would be a gross understatement,” said Ted Schiller. Another roommate, Gerry Kolle, noted that a newspaper obituary had described George as unfazed by his heavy caseload. “I can understand this,” Gerry said. “George was unflappable, always calm and collected.”

The class sends condolences to George’s wife, Lina Cambria Perez; children George M. ’05 and Maria; his parents; and his brother, Manuel.