Benson R. Wilcox M.D.

Dr. Benson Reid Wilcox, Professor of Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Emeritus Chief of the UNC Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, died peacefully at his home in Chapel Hill on May 11th, 2010.
Dr. Wilcox, an expert in congenital heart disease, pediatric cardiac morphology and pediatric chest disease, has worked at the UNC School of Medicine since 1963.
He is survived by his wife, Patsy Davis, and by his children and their spouses: Adelaide and Ruffin King of Charlottesville, VA, Melissa and Brett Bond and Sandra and Peter Conway of Charlotte, NC, Reid and Suzanne Wilcox of Greensboro, NC, two step-daughters, Harriet Kendall of Charleston, SC, and Julia Klein of Durham, NC, and eleven grandchildren: Peter, Ben and Adelaide Conway; Alexandra and Ruffin King; Brett, Lucinda, and Reid Bond; Ben, Ellie, and Henry Wilcox.
Ben Wilcox was born May 26, 1932 in Charlotte, NC. He graduated from Darlington School in Rome, GA in 1949, and entered the University of North Carolina where he received his B.A. in 1953 and M.D. in 1957. As an undergraduate he was president of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity and Rex of the Order of the Gimghoul, and in medical school he was President of his class and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. Following a surgical residency at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, MO, he served as Surgical Clinical Associate at the National Heart Institute at the National Institutes for Health in Bethesda, MD. In 1962 he returned to the UNC Department of Surgery in Chapel Hill as a faculty member of the medical school. He loved the University, and served it in a wide variety of capacities. He was the Chairman of the Faculty Committee on Athletics, President of the Atlantic Coast Conference, President of the Nathan Womack Surgical Society, and Chairman of the Morehead Scholarship Central Selection Committee. In 2008 Dr. Wilcox’s great friend, R. B. Fitch endowed the Benson R. Wilcox Distinguished Professorship in Cardiothoracic Surgery.
He co-authored scores of articles and co-edited several books, including Surgical Anatomy of the Heart, which has been translated into numerous languages, including Japanese and Chinese. Major innovations that transpired under his leadership as division chief include the initiation of heart, lung, and heart-lung transplantation programs, the facilitation of the treatment of neonatal congenital heart diseases, and the establishment of the Carolina Parent Network.
On the national level, Dr. Wilcox served as President of the National Resident Matching Program, President of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS), and President of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), the world’s largest association of thoracic surgeons. In January of this year, the STS established the Benson Wilcox Award for Best Resident Paper. A leader in cardiothoracic surgery education, he was instrumental in establishing the Thoracic Surgery Directors Association (TSDA) of which he was president in 1985-87. He was also an active member of Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
In 1967 Dr. Wilcox was selected as a Markel Scholar in Academic Medicine. He was the recipient of the Hadassah Myrtle Wreath Award in 1979. He was given the Distinguished Alumnus Award by Darlington School in 1997. He was named a Carolina “Priceless Gem” in 1985, and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons in 2003. In 1935 he was chosen as “the most beautiful baby,” in a poll by readers of the Charlotte Observer.
He was a kind and generous gentleman who touched and enhanced the lives of many. We are grateful for his time with us.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM on Friday, May 14th, at Gerrard Hall on the UNC Campus. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to Michael Mill at 3040 Burnett-Womack Building, Univ. of North Carolina, CB #7065, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7065. Checks may be made out to the TSDA Award, which was named in Benson’s honor.