July 23 & July 30, 2007

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Second Academy Chair Honors Education

Sam Riley, MGH Photography Department

When it was his turn to speak at the celebration of the Morton N. Swartz, MD, Academy Professorship, Dennis Ausiello, the Jackson professor of clinical medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, captured the tone of the event, saying, “We are here today celebrating a legend and a legend in the making.” Chair namesake Morton Swartz, a 1947 graduate of HMS has been a professor of medicine at the School and MGH since 1970. Stephen Calderwood, HMS ’;75, the first incumbent of the chair, is an investigator and teacher in microbial pathogenesis and infectious diseases at HMS and MGH. The professorship is the second for the Academy, both recognizing the importance of education, said George Thibault, the Daniel D. Federman professor of medical education. He added that in his mind there was no greater teacher at HMS in the last 50 years than Morton Swartz. Thibault asserted that the chair and the two physician-teachers it honors gives the signal to HMS faculty: “You, too, can aspire to greatness as a teacher.” When Swartz took the mic, he began with a confession about his role in a flash flood at Vanderbilt Hall when he was a medical student, a story that led into a brief physics lesson and culminated in a testament to Calderwood’;s creative achievements. Calderwood returned the favor, insisting that the day was an honor to Swartz. Addressing the establishment of the chair in Swartz’;s name, Calderwood said, “I’;m so glad that we could get this done in celebration of you.”

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Copyright 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College