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The philosopher, essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.”
When describing the rise to success of Dr. Nicholas Perricone, you could say Emerson, a champion of individualism, was talking about him.
Perricone’s path was formed by a convergence of many influences and experiences. He grew up in Connecticut, one of five children in a working class family. His father was a stone mason and brick layer with a talent for doing science experiments in the family basement, and his mother was an avid reader. His father’s inventiveness taught the young Perricone how to be creative and his mother instilled a love for the written word. As an undergraduate student at UNH, an advisor helped him choose English literature as his major, which honed valuable writing and analytic skills. After graduating, Perricone’s passion for helping others resulted in a job working for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, which sparked his desire to study medicine and gave him a background in working with the media.
Today, as a best-selling author, prominent dermatologist and founder of the science-based skin care company, N.V. Perricone Cosmeceuticals, Perricone has established himself as the father of the Inflammation Theory of Aging. He is the author of several best-selling books, including three New York Times #1 Best Sellers, “The Perricone Promise,” “The Perricone Prescription” and” The Wrinkle Cure.” His holistic approach to aging encompasses diet, supplements and his award-winning line of skin care products. He has been featured in a series of television specials on PBS and is a popular guest on numerous television shows including Oprah and 20/20. Vogue magazine named him one of the best dermatologists in the U.S. in 2001, and the opening of the Perricone flagship store in New York City was named one of the “Top Ten Beauty Stories” by Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) in 2005.
While enrolled at UNH, Perricone participated in a work study program mentoring disadvantaged inner-city youth. He says working with children was the most valuable extra-curricular experience he had at the University. He went on to earn his medical degree from the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State, finishing in 2 1/2 years at the top of his class. He did an internship in pediatrics at Yale Medical School and went on to pursue dermatology, completing his residency at the Ford Medical Center.
In medical school, Perricone started to conduct research on how cellular inflammation could be the basis for diseases and aging, which, he says, “was not a popular idea at the time.” He filed for his first patent when he was still a resident and explored the idea of putting anti-inflamatories directly on the skin. While giving a lecture about the future of cosmetics, a group of buyers from a major department store approached him about selling his products. Perricone Cosmeceuticals was born soon after. Today, he has received more than 50 U.S. and international patents as a result of his groundbreaking research.
Despite his success and celebrity status, Perricone is remarkably grounded. “The more you do and the more you know, the more humble you become because you realize how little you know and how little you can do with the size of problems in the world,” he says. “You say, ‘OK, I can’t do it all but I’ve got to do the best I can.’”
Pericone’s background in the liberal arts and sciences also has given him an understanding of basic human needs. He helped Catholic Family Services build a community center, school and health clinic on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where children and pregnant teenagers are housed and educated, and wants to expand his charitable efforts throughout the globe.
Because of his pioneering ideas, Perricone has had to overcome many obstacles. His advice to today’s students reflects that fact. ”Find something that really interests you and take that interest and see what you can come up with that is new and innovative, and what kind of contribution you can make. When you have that, keep focused, keep your eye on the goal and believe in yourself. If you are innovative enough, everyone is going to take a baseball bat and hit you down because everyone likes to be level in this world, but just keep on moving forward, and success is going to come.”
He adds that you don’t have to have a “ticket” from an Ivy League college to make it in the world: “What you do is going to be the most important thing, and you will be far more successful than anybody who had the ticket because it’s going to be your creativity and ambition and drive that’s going to do it.”
Perricone’s newest book examines how food and nutrients affect genetics. He has applied for eight new patents, completed another PBS special and is branching out to study energy alternatives. Although he continues to operate at warp speed, he still manages time for reflection, maintaining that UNH is the basis of what he is today. “It sits up on the hill and you have to see it every time you go down interstate 95, and I look back and say ‘that’s the foundation, that’s where it started, and it does represent pretty much what my life is, which is really starting from nothing. You don’t come here and get hammered by overwhelming competition because that’s not what this is about, it’s more like a family and we are going to get you strong. It’s like when your parents teach you to walk, that’s what they do here. Then we’re set and we have everything we need to go out there and succeed.”
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