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DeBakey Library & Museum Showcases Innovations of Pioneering Heart Surgeonby Denise Bray Hensley 
Walking into the DeBakey Library gives visitors a view of Dr. Michael E. DeBakey's role in history. The Michael E. DeBakey Library & Museum, honoring the life of the pioneering heart surgeon, opened in May to the fanfare of a New Orleansstyle jazz band and attendance by more than 300 friends and medical minds of Baylor College of Medicine and the Texas Medical Center. "This museum brings an understanding of an individual who was both an innovator and a contributor to the betterment of mankind at all levels," said Dr. William T. Butler, interim president and CEO of Baylor College of Medicine, who led the grand opening ceremony. "What he wanted was for people to be inspired to learn at a higher level, and he hoped by sharing what he had accomplished with others, that they may also be inspired." Dr. George Noon, who was a student, resident and surgeon alongside DeBakey, said his mentor wanted the museum to reflect in chronological order the events of DeBakey's life, his surgical firsts, and the history of BCM and of the Texas Medical Center. "What we see in the museum is what he's seen and what he envisioned," Noon said. "This would have been a proud day for him." DeBakey died in July 2008, just short of his 100th birthday. Statue unveiled
The eight-foot statue of DeBakey stands guard outside the College. Also unveiled at the museum grand opening was an eight-foot bronze statue of DeBakey that will stand guard in the courtyard outside the longawaited landmark. The statue depicts DeBakey in surgical scrubs with his mask lowered and his arms folded across his chest. Dr. Denton Cooley, DeBakey's former partner and contemporary, said the expression on the face of the statue was quite familiar to him and represented DeBakey well. The sculptor was Edd Hayes. "We were great friends who became great adversaries only to become rejoined and great friends again," said Cooley whose show of respect for DeBakey by his attendance at the museum grand opening brought tears to the eyes of many in the audience. More than $24.4 million in private contributions from about 475 donors was raised during a campaign that started in 2003 to make the DeBakey Library & Museum a reality. The funds were used for the museum and for the expansion of the DeBakey Center, adding three floors of new classrooms, laboratories, conference space and the Education Resource Center. Contributing $500,000 and above were The Cullen Trust for Higher Education, The DeBakey Medical Foundation, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., The J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation Inc. and The Partnership for Baylor College of Medicine. Honoring DeBakey's legacy"Our goal was to honor Dr. DeBakey's legacy," said Lisa Kennedy, senior vice president of advancement and chief development officer of BCM. "As visitors go through the museum, they see some of the actual equipment that was used by Dr. DeBakey. They can see the progression in technology that was used. They can experience and observe some of his creativity." 
Recreation of DeBakey's operating room The museum includes the recreation of DeBakey's operating room as designed by the pioneering surgeon and his conference room table, which was BCM's original board table. Also on display is a replica of the sewing machine he used to develop the first artificial heart artery made of Dacron. Displays depict the evolution of heart surgery, including the roller pump that DeBakey invented as a student. Also available are videos of his groundbreaking surgeries from the 1950s and 1960s, his speeches and many of the framed photographs he kept in his offices and conference room. "This museum brings an understanding of an individual who was both an innovator and a contributor to the betterment of mankind at all levels." Archives director JoAnn Pospisil described the daunting task of deciding what to exhibit from a monumental amount of materials and artifacts, heart pumps, honors, awards and personal memorabilia from DeBakey's 60 years at the school. "We're like the DeBakey Smithsonian here," she said. "We'd have to build another Cullen Building to display it all." She said working with the project gave her a great appreciation for all that he accomplished in his multifaceted career. "Dr. DeBakey single handedly raised the standard of medical care, teaching and research around the world," Noon said. "He was the greatest surgeon of the 20th century, and physicians everywhere are indebted to him for his contributions to medicine." DeBakey helped planNoon and Butler both talked about how closely DeBakey was involved in the museum's planning. "Dr. DeBakey first came to me in 1983 and said he would like a place to display his papers and memorabilia. Over the next 10 years we talked about it from time to time. By the mid 1990s, he had agreed a good place to have the museum would be adjacent to our board room in the DeBakey building," Butler said. DeBakey spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony kicking off the library's construction threeandahalf years ago. He reviewed the mockup of the library and museum just before his death. "About three weeks before he died, he reviewed with me the entire set of mockups and he really enjoyed seeing them," Butler said. "After voicing his approval, he looked up to me from his wheelchair and reflected, 'You know, Bill, perhaps I really was the father of cardiovascular surgery.'" Admission to the DeBakey Library & Museum is free. It is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, except holidays, at the Main Campus of Baylor College of Medicine. |
FeaturesThe Future of Health Care Starts at Med High Emergency Medicine: The Art of Juggling A Quarter Century of Invention at Baylor College of Medicine "Passport" Gives Childhood Cancer Survivors Entry into Adult Healthcare Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center Educates Through Entertainment Getting to the Roots of Cancer NewsDr. Paul Klotman: BCM's New Top Man Dan Duncan Leaves Solid Foundation for BCM's Research Future DeBakey Library & Museum Showcases Innovations of Pioneering Heart Surgeon SpotlightBIPAI Doctor Seeks to Serve in Africa Space Medicine Takes Medical Education Across New Frontiers Quest for a Gene Opens New Door in Personalized Medicine BriefsOut of This World Science Experiment Generates International Interest Predicting the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease Pool to Receive Academic Clinical Professionalism Award The Pea Aphid and the Wasp Genome Development/AlumniBelieve in BCM Campaign Engages Campus Development BriefsNational Osteoporosis Foundation Honors Lawrences DeBakey Heart Center of BCM Benefits from Partnership Event Pink Ribbon House Project Celebrates Success Awards and Honor Wall Highlight Alumni Reunion 2010 The Road Ahead Promises Continued Success 
Cutting the ribbon at the opening were Dr. Stuart Yudofsky, chair of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at BCM, Dr. George Noon, professor of surgery and DeBakey's friend and colleague, BCM board member Corbin J. Robertson, Jr., Dr. William T. Butler, interim president of BCM and a force behind the library, Houston philanthropist Coletta McMillian and BCM board member J. Hugh Roff, Jr. |
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Volume 6, Issue 1, Summer 2010 |
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| Last modified: August 11, 2010 |