7 Michael DeBakey 7DeBakey received his B.S. (1930), M.D. (1932), and M.S.
(1935) degrees from Tulane University School of Medicine
in New Orleans. After volunteering for military service
during World War II, his work with the U.S. Surgeon
General’s office led to the development of mobile army
surgical hospitals (MASH units) and the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital research system. In 1948
he became professor of surgery and chairman of the
department of surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in
Houston, where he later served as president (1969 –79) and
then as chancellor (1979 – 96).
DeBakey received numerous national and international
awards, including the American Medical Association
Distinguished Service Award (1959), the Albert Lasker
Award for Clinical Research (1963; corecipient), the
Eleanor Roosevelt Humanities Award (1969), the Pres-
idential Medal of Freedom with Distinction (1969), the
U.S.S.R. Acad emy 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 litera-
ture. 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 Cardiovas cular Surgical Society’s life-
time 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).