Posted July 14, 2008: The World and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas have lost two giants: the deaths of Michael E. DeBakey, MD, and Ambassador Roy M. Huffington, PhD, occurred on July 11^th only hours apart. This coincidence is just one of the many parallels in the lives of these two remarkable men. They were both pre-eminent in their fields: in Dr. DeBakey's case, cardiovascular surgery and medical education; Ambassador Huffington's in geology, oil and gas exploration. Both were in their 90's: Dr. DeBakey was within two months of being 100; Roy Huffington had his 90^th birthday this past October. Both were associated with Baylor College of Medicine: Dr. DeBakey as a member of the faculty in the late 1940's, surgery department chair, president, then chancellor; Ambassador Huffington as a member of the board of trustees and, with his late wife, Phyllis Gough Huffington, founded the Roy M. and Phyllis Gough Huffington Center on Aging in 1988. Both men were on the world stage: Dr. DeBakey as the premier medical statesman and physician to world leaders; Roy Huffington as Ambassador to Austria during the administration of President George H.W. Bush, and an international businessman. Both were philanthropists whose efforts made the world a better place for untold numbers of persons. And both were good friends. (This photo, courtesy of Dr. Ralph Dittman, was taken a few years ago at one of the many events they attended together.) Their contributions will not likely be matched soon, if ever.

For those of us who knew them and served with them, we counted those opportunities as an honor and a privilege. The legacies they left inspire us to always strive to achieve excellence in research, education, and service.

The late Massachusetts legislator Horace Mann is often referred to as the "father of education" in this country. In a commencement address at Antioch College in 1859, he exhorted the graduates to be ashamed to die before they won some victory for humanity. Perhaps Dr. DeBakey and Ambassador Huffington didn't know that Horace Mann said  what he did but their remarkable lives suggest that they lived up to the challenge given that night so long ago. God Bless the DeBakey and Huffington families.

P.S. Click on this link  http://www.legacy.com/HoustonChronicle/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=113244850to read the truly remarkable  obituary of our benefactor, Ambassador Huffington. The two passages that stand out to those who knew him well are "he was a gentleman's gentleman" and "he was admired by all who knew him." What apt remarks. It's been said that most people live in their communities just to make a living: a few live in their communities to make a difference. And boy did Roy Huffington make a difference! Young people everywhere would do well to read about this great gentleman and try to emulate his qualities of vision, hard work, compassion and sharing.

For more on the late Dr. DeBakey, See photo of him taken on Friday, 8 February 2008 at a lecture he gave at Baylor in which he recounted the research he performed in the early 1960's on dacron grafts that ultimately led to widespread use in vascular surgery. In speaking to the students, Dr. DeBakey pointed out that after all these years, dacron grafts still work well, and that he is the beneficiary of his own work: i.e., his dissecting aorta was successfully, and in his words "providentially," repaired with one. He brought laughter to those fortunate to hear him by saying, "See, there's value to one's research." As this writer listened to Dr. DeBakey's elegant remarks,  the thought that they were being given by a person born in 1908 -- do the math! -- formed a visual metaphor for successful aging. Thank you, Dr. DeBakey for having been our hero and our model for a long life well lived in service to God, country, and mankind. Perhaps some young student who heard the heralded surgeon/medical educator speak will rise to his level of contributions to medicine. And on the occasion of nearing his or her own 100th birthday, give a similar talk to then-Baylor students. Were this to be the case, those students will be practicing medicine in 2108 on the 200th anniversary of Dr. DeBakey's birth. Such is the circle of life and the value of research. And for us to help many more persons attain the century mark and still give great lectures and enjoy life, we must have and do much more research on the aging process.