Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academics

Distinguished Lecture Series

Title: Developments in CardioVascular Surgery

Michael E. DeBakey, M.D.
Chancellor Emeritus, Baylor College of Medicine
Director, The DeBakey Heart Center of Baylor and Methodist Hospital

Monday, November 22, 1999, at 7:30 p.m.
Auditorium, Presidential Conference Center
Texas A&M University

Abstract

Michael DeBakey discusses developments in cardiovascular surgery, including anecdotes about his pioneering work in heart transplants, coronary bypass surgery, and development of an artificial heart.

About the Speaker

Internationally recognized as an ingenious medical inventor and innovator, Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., is a gifted and dedicated teacher, a premier surgeon, and an international medical statesman. He serves as chancellor emeritus of the Baylor College of Medicine and director of The DeBakey Heart Center of Baylor and Methodist Hospital in Houston. He previously has served Baylor College of Medicine as chairman of the Department of Surgery (1948 to 1993), president (1969 to 1979), and chancellor (1979 to 1996).

Dr. DeBakey received his bachelor's and M.D. degrees from Tulane University in New Orleans. While still in medical school, he devised a pump that became one of the essential components of the heart-lung machine, which made open-heart surgery possible. Best known for his innovations in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, Dr. DeBakey was the first to perform successful excision and graft replacement of aortic aneurysms and arterial obstructive lesions, particularly on the carotid artery and thoracic aorta. A pioneer in the development of the artificial heart, he was the first to use a heart pump successfully in a patient.

Dr. DeBakey's impressive lifelong scholarship is reflected in more than 1,400 medical articles, chapters, and books he has published on various aspects of surgery, medicine, health, medical research, and medical education, as well as ethical, socioeconomic, and philosophic discussions in these fields. Many of these are now considered classics. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Vascular Surgery. He has received about 50 honorary degrees from prestigious colleges and universities, as well as innumerable awards from educational institutions, professional and civic organizations, and governments throughout the world. In 1969, President Lyndon Johnson bestowed upon Dr. DeBakey the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction, the highest honor a United States citizen can receive. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan awarded him the National Medal of Science.

Recognizing the need to attract young people, particularly minority students, to the health professions, Dr. DeBakey was the driving force behind the establishment of the High School for the Health Professions of the Houston Independent School District, and he has remained one of the school's strongest supporters. In 1996, the school was renamed the Michael E. DeBakey High School for the Heath Professions.

Dr. DeBakey's keen intellect, professional ingenuity, personal integrity, and selfless devotion to the service of humanity have made him a true legend in his own time.