1995 William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement,
1997 Common Wealth Award
Celebrated Texas heart surgeon Michael E. DeBakey
is chancellor and Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, and director of The DeBakey Heart Center of Baylor and Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. His career has earned him world renown as a surgeon, innovator, teacher and medical statesman. While still a medical student, he devised a pump that became one of the essential components of the heart-lung machine, which made open-heart surgery possible. He has developed more than 50 surgical instruments. Best known for his innovations in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, 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 an artificial heart, he was the first to use a heart pump successfully in a patient. He was instrumental in helping to establish the National Library of Medicine, among other institutions, and was the founding editor of the Journal of Vascular Surgery. His many honors include the Medal of Freedom with Distinction and the Presidential Medal of Science, for outstanding contributions to medical science.