From left: Dr. Herbert Pardes; Dr. E. Darracott Vaughan; Dr. Ralph Nachman; Mr. Maurice Greenberg; Dr. O. Wayne Isom; Dr. Maria New; and Dr. Antonio Gotto (Drs. Vaughan, Nachman and New are former winners.)
Highly respected cardiothoracic surgeon, educator and researcher Dr. O. Wayne Isom, the Terry Allen Kramer Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, is the 24th recipient of the Maurice R. Greenberg Distinguished Service Award.
At a gala dinner held at the Plaza Hotel in Dr. Isom's honor on April 29, gala co-chairs Bernadette Castro, the New York State Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and Myra Mahon, presented the hundreds of attendees with a warm welcome and introduction.
The annual event also featured an extensive video tribute to Dr. Isom, who, in his longstanding surgical career, has operated on thousands of individuals, both celebrities and non-celebrities. In addition, over the course of his career Dr. Isom has taught third- and fourth-year medical students as well as general surgery residents, and has been instrumental in training more than 50 cardiothoracic surgeons.
Drs. E. Darracott Vaughan; Ralph Nachman; O. Wayne Isom; and Maria New
After Dr. Isom's touching video tribute, Dr. Peter Guida, associate professor of surgery at Weill Cornell and gala co-chair, introduced Maurice Greenberg and Arthur Mahon, vice chairman of Weill Cornell's Board of Overseers and gala co-chair.
The Greenberg Award honors a senior member of the medical staff at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell who has given exceptional and longstanding service. The award includes a $50,000 grant to be used by the recipient in connection with his or her work. Its namesake is Maurice Greenberg, chairman and CEO of American International Group Inc., the world's leading global insurance and financial services organization. Mr. Greenberg is also chairman emeritus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Foundation Inc., and serves as a member of Weill Cornell's Board of Overseers.
Dr. O. Wayne Isom and Mr. Maurice Greenberg
Along with some of his colleagues, Dr. Isom is currently investigating the application of gene therapy in cardiac patients, brain protection during cardiopulmonary bypass, and robotic surgical techniques. Drs. Isom and Karl Krieger, the Michael C. Bergerac Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, wrote "Blood Conservation in Cardiac Surgery," a book that focuses on the techniques of bloodless open-heart surgery.
A native of Idalou, Texas, Dr. Isom completed his undergraduate studies at Texas Technological College and earned his M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He did his medical internship and general surgery residency at Parkland Hospital in Dallas and completed a cardiothoracic residency at New York University Medical Center. He then joined the faculty at NYU School of Medicine, and, in 1978, became professor of surgery and director of the Cardiothoracic Training Program, a position he held for the next seven years.
Dr. O. Wayne Isom; Mr. Maurice Greenberg; and Mr. Arthur Mahon
In 1985, Dr. Isom was recruited to New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center and appointed chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery in the Department of Surgery. Under his supervision, the cardiothoracic surgeons at what is now called NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell boast more than 20,000 open-heart procedures.
Dr. Isom is a noted professor, speaker and the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Heart Association's distinguished "Bugher Foundation Award for Achievement in Cardiovascular Science and Medicine"; the "Hero with a Heart Award" from the National Marfan Foundation (2000); the first annual "Humanitarian Award" from the Larry King Cardiac Foundation and the New York Society of Association Executives Education Research Foundation; and the highly coveted "Third-Year Teaching Award" from Weill Cornell medical students (Class of 1996).
Dr. O. Wayne Isom
Past recipients of the Greenberg Distinguished Service Award include: Drs. Ralph Nachman; E. Darracott Vaughan Jr.; D. Jackson Coleman; David Skinner; Donald Fischman; R.A. Rees Pritchett; William Ledger; Erich Windhager; Fred Plum; Maria New; David Thompson; George Reader; Mary Allen Engle; Walter Riker Jr.; John Evans; Cranston Holman; Victor Marshall; Vincent du Vigneaud (posthumous); John Ellis; Herbert Conway (posthumous); Joseph Artusio Jr.; George Papanicolaou (posthumous); E. Hugh Luckey; John MacLeod (posthumous); Bronson Ray; John Deitrick; and Frank Glenn.
Photos by Marie Wallace.