Construction begins on DeBakey Library and Museum
Lori Williams
713-798-4710
loriw@bcm.edu
HOUSTON -- (Oct. 18, 2006) -- Baylor College of Medicine today honored Dr. Michael E. DeBakey and joined him in celebrating the construction start of the Michael E. DeBakey Library and Museum.
The library and museum, which will be located on the BCM campus, will chronicle the career of the pioneering heart surgeon who put the college on the road to leadership in its missions of education, research and patient care.
"A library has been defined as the soul of civilization, and, in some respects, I think that is what it is," Dr. DeBakey said. "And I am very grateful that they are doing this and my name is associated with it because I think it's a great honor to have your name associated with a historical project."
DeBakey, 98, served as Baylor College of Medicine's first president and chancellor. He currently serves as chancellor emeritus. He was chair of surgery from 1948 until 1993.
"I would hope that it would become a sort of a centerpiece for those who have interests in a broad topic like cardiovascular diseases," said DeBakey. "And I also hope it might stimulate some research in that area."
BCM President and CEO Dr. Peter G. Traber, BCM Board Chair Robert H. Allen, former board chair Corbin J. Robertson Jr. and former BCM presidents Dr. William T. Butler and Dr. Ralph D. Feigin joined in the celebration, which was attended by a large crowd of friends of DeBakey and BCM leaders, faculty, staff and students.
"Dr. Michael DeBakey has touched the lives of countless patients, families, physicians, scientists and students, and his leadership has been valued by government officials and world leaders," said Traber. "His standards of excellence have set an example for all of us. It is a great tribute, and very appropriate, that the library and museum that holds his name is located in the medical school that he helped shaped into one of the nation's leading institutions."
Completion of the 65,000 square foot library and museum is expected in September 2007.
Much of the memorabilia from DeBakey's long career will be housed there, including all of his awards and honors and 3,000 manuscripts chronicling his research. The permanent and rotating displays will feature medical devices and implements devised by the pioneering vascular surgeon along with the treadle sewing machine he used to stitch the first Dacron® artificial arteries.
This chronicle of DeBakey's life in the museum will also depict the parallel development of BCM, now one of the nation's leading medical schools, and the Texas Medical Center, the largest and most comprehensive medical center in the world.
The museum also will serve as a resource for physicians and scholars who wish to study advances in a whole range of medical areas, from cardiovascular surgery pioneered by DeBakey to the present-day discoveries of new genes by researchers in the college's Human Genome Sequencing Center.