John Y. Templeton III: Pioneer of modern cardiothoracic surgery.

John Young Templeton III was born in 1917 in Portsmouth, Virginia, and graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1941. He completed his residency training under Dr. John H. Gibbon, Jr., and was the first resident who worked on Gibbon\u27s heart-lung machine. After his training, he remained at Jefferson as an American Cancer Society fellow and Damon Runyon fellow and went on to become the fourth Samuel D. Gross Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery in 1967. Dr. Templeton was the recipient of numerous grants and published over 80 papers in the field of cardiothoracic surgery. As a teacher and mentor, he was a beloved figure who placed great faith in his residents. He participated in over 60 professional societies, serving as president to many such as the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery and the Pennsylvania Association of Thoracic Surgery. He was also recognized through his many awards, in particular the John Y. Templeton III lectureship established in 1980 at Jefferson of whom Denton Cooley was the first lecturer. Dr. Templeton retired from practice in 1987. He is forever remembered as an important model of a modern surgeon evident in numerous academic achievements, the admiration and affection of his trainees, and the lives of patients that he had touched

John H. Gibbon, Jr., M.D.: surgical innovator, pioneer, and inspiration.

Throughout history there have been many discoveries that have changed the world, including Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, and Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce’s microchip. There are a few analogous contributions that have been made in medicine: Sir Alexander’s discovery of penicillin, Lister’s principles of antiseptic technique, Salk and Sabin’s vaccines for polio, as well as numerous others. These innovative thinkers all had two factors in common. First, they were pioneers who faced problems that had no solutions at the time and who refused to accept the status quo in the face of great scrutiny and resistance. Second, their contributions would forever change the world. In 1930, a profound experience with a patient would forever change Dr. John H. Gibbon, Jr. and stimulate an idea to create a device that at the time sounded audacious and impossible. His device would temporarily take the role of both the heart and lungs to make repairs inside the heart or the great vessels. Twentythree years later, Dr. Gibbon used his machine to perform the first successful bypass-assisted open heart surgery

A Historic Grand Rounds, 60 Years After the First Successful Use of Dr. Gibbon\u27s Heart-Lung Machine on May 6, 1953: Fond Memories

Fond Memories of John H. Gibbon Jr. Presentation: 55 minute