Dr. Michael E. DeBakey
(September 7, 1908 – July 11, 2008)
Chairman Emeritus
Dr. Michael DeBakey, the internationally acclaimed cardiovascular surgeon, is an ingenious medical inventor, innovator and dedicated teacher. Because of his unique ability to bring professional knowledge to bear on public policy worldwide, Dr. DeBakey is known as an international medical statesman.
Dr. DeBakey received numerous national and international awards, including the American Medical Association Distinguished Service Award (1959), the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Research (1963; co-recipient), the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanities Award (1969), the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction (1969), the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences 50th Anniversary Jubilee Medal (1973), and the Presidential National Medal of Science (1987). He received more than 50 honorary degrees from universities throughout the world. In 1992 he was introduced into the Academy of Athens, a society of scholars generally restricted to Greeks who have made significant contributions to the arts, sciences, or literature. He edited the Yearbook of Surgery (1958–70), was the founding editor of the Journal of Vascular Surgery, and served on many medical editorial boards. Among his more than 1,600 professional and lay publications is the The New Living Heart (1997). DeBakey later received the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society’s lifetime achievement award (2007) and was bestowed with the highest and most distinguished civilian award given by the U.S. Congress, the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor (2008).
He has served as advisor to virtually every U.S. president in the past 50 years. Dr. DeBakey performed the first successful carotid endarterectomy for stroke, the first coronary artery bypass and the first use of left ventricle bypass pump for heart failure. His lifelong scholarship is reflected in more than 1,600 published medical articles and books. He is a co-author of "The Living Heart" series of popular books for the public.