ho was "time" magazine's 1996 man of the year. "time" later recalled the selection surprised both ho and readers, with one reader calling ho "dr. david who?" the magazine acknowledged in 1996 that "ho is not, to be sure, a household name. but some people make headlines while others make history." ho was even briefly mentioned when alexander fleming was considered for person of the century in 1999, since fleming could be portrayed as representative of other disease-fighting scientists including ho, but the title ultimately went to albert einstein.