Another brush with fame

I am on a pretty good run of late... I got to meet Joe Mauer while I was in South Dakota, and then when I got back we had Dr. Michael Debakey as the Landes Lecturer for Student Research Day (not that I would ever put the two on the same scale).

For those of you who don't know who DeBakey is, let's just say that he is the father of modern cardiothoracic surgery (ya know, nothing big). His CV reads as a list of firsts, including being the first to perform a bypass, the first to use a Dacron graft, first to link artherosclerosis with CMV, and, with his mentor, the first to link smoking to carcinoma. He holds the rank of Colonel and was instrumental in the development of MASH units and the VA hospital system. He created the roller pump (while in medical school!) and the ventricular assist device. He has served as an advisor for each president over the past 50 years, has won the Lasker Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction, and was once featured on the cover of TIME magazine. He has some 1600 publications! There is a lot more, but you get the picture.

And speaking of pictures, here I am with him:

He's 96 years old, walks without a crane, and is sharp as a tack. He could probably do a quadruple bypass with one hand and sign autographs with the other, all while whistling Dixie.

Oh, and he's a really really nice guy... he's not full of himself and his accomplishments, is quick to credit others and "luck," and is a charming storyteller. I consider myself very lucky to have met him.