Reed E. Pyeritz, the William Smilow Professor of Medicine Emeritus in the Perelman School of Medicine, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Marfan Foundation. This organization supports health care, education and research for patients and families with Marfan syndrome and related genetic disorders of connective tissue, especially those that affect the aorta and its arterial branches. In 1991, Dr. Pyeritz co-led the team that discovered that variants in the gene fibrillin cause Marfan syndrome, a discovery that enabled more rapid and accurate diagnosis, especially within families because half of the offspring, on average, inherit the condition. He was the first to perform a clinical trial that demonstrated that the risk of aortic dissection and the rate of dilatation of the artery could be reduced with a beta-adrenergic blocking drug. His research, and that of many others, has resulted in a doubling of the life-expectancy of people with the syndrome. In 1979, at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Pyeritz organized a small support group of patients, families, and colleagues. This group grew into the Marfan Foundation, which now has several thousand members, an international following, and major funding for its activities. In 2015-2016, Dr. Pyeritz served as chair of Penn’s Faculty Senate.