September 10, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - John Kirklin, M.D., a pioneering heart surgeon who played a large role in the development of UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) into a major medical center, will be inducted into the Alabama Men's Hall of Fame at ceremonies on Tues, Sept 16.  The induction of Kirklin, along with Josiah Morris, a founder of the city of Birmingham, will be at 11:30 a.m. at a luncheon at The Club.

Kirklin revolutionized cardiovascular surgery through his development and refinement of the heart-bypass machine. In the 1950s, he modified the Gibbon heart-lung machine and performed the first open-heart operations carried out at the Mayo Clinic. He improved the original pumping and oxygenator system to the point that utilization of the machine is part of the everyday practice of cardiac surgery.

Kirklin joined the UAB faculty in 1966 as chair of the Department of Surgery and University Hospital surgeon in chief. He held these positions until 1982, during which he built one of the most prestigious cardiovascular surgical training programs in the world. He retired from surgery in 1989.

Kirklin's son, James Kirklin, M.D., a prominent surgeon at UAB, will deliver the keynote address.

The Alabama Men's Hall of Fame, housed in the Harwell G. Davis Library on the campus of Samford University, was created in 1987 by an act of the Alabama legislature.  The Hall recognizes those men native to or identified most closely with the State of Alabama who have made significant contributions on a state, national or international scale within their professional fields of activity and concern.