Not sure how I missed this detail when Dr. Scott Atlas stepped into the national spotlight as a member of the lame duck president’s coronavirus task force, but apparently the herd-immunity pushing radiologist graduated from U of I in 1977 with a degree in Biology.
He was even featured in The News-Gazette’s special section honoring the University’s 150th anniversary.
Unfortunately, the entire country had to learn who he was this year as he was tapped to be a doctor on the task force that would tell Trump exactly what he wanted to hear regarding pandemic response. Some of his greatest hits include tweeting about masks not working and encouraging Michigan residents to “rise up” against COVID restrictions put in place by Governor Whitmer (someone who’d already had her life threatened by domestic terrorists).
Thankfully, he resigned yesterday. We can now continue the slow crawl towards an administration that believes in science.
Top photo from NPR Illinois by Evan Vucci/AP.