Dr. David C. Sabiston Jr.

Dr. David C. Sabiston, Jr., Chairman Emeritus of Duke University Medical Center Department of Surgery died on January 26, 2009. He was 84 years old.
A native of Onslow County, NC, Dr. Sabiston received his B.S. degree from the University of North Carolina in 1944 and his M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1947. He completed his surgical residency under his greatly respected mentor, Dr. Alfred Blalock, at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Following his Chief Residency, he served two years at Walter Reed Medical Center in The U.S. Army Medical Corps.
Dr. Sabiston returned to Johns Hopkins in 1955 as an Assistant Professor of Surgery and an Investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In 1960, he received a Fulbright Scholarship to teach and conduct research at the Hospital for Sick Children of the University of London and the Nuffield Department of Surgery at Oxford University. Within three years of his return to Johns Hopkins, he became a Professor of Surgery.
In 1964, Dr. Sabiston returned to his native North Carolina where he became the Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Duke University Medical Center. At Duke, he was awarded a distinguished James B. Duke Professorship and continued to pursue his passions of clinical surgery, research, and teaching for 33 years.
Dr. Sabiston took his greatest pride in his residents, students, and their accomplishments. His love of teaching, his ability to engage young physicians with historical anecdotes, and his commitment to the best possible patient care earned him a number of teaching awards which he treasured. He was the four time recipient of both The Golden Apple Award as Best Clinical Teacher by Duke Medical Students and The Thomas D. Kinney Award for Outstanding Teacher of the Year. He also received the Alpha Omega Alpha Distinguished Teacher Award presented at The Annual Meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Dr. Sabiston's commitment to surgical education led him to accept more than two hundred lectureships in the U.S. and abroad, to accept visiting professorships at more than one hundred and sixty medical centers, and to be an honorary member of many surgical societies around the world. He also edited a number of textbooks and publications including serving as editor of the Textbook of Surgery, coeditor of the Surgery of the Chest, and editor of Annals of Surgery.
Alternately described as a "taskmaster" and a "gentleman" by his residents, Dr. Sabiston's strengths as a teacher, researcher, and surgeon were equally applauded by his peers. He served as president of the American College of Surgeons, the American Surgical Association, the American Surgical Association Foundation, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, the Society of University Surgeons, the Southern Surgical Association, and the Society of Surgical Chairmen. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He also received The Michael E. DeBakey Award for Outstanding Achievement, the American Heart Association Scientific Council's Distinguished Achievement Award, Distinguished Alumnus Awards from the University of North Carolina and the Johns Hopkins University, and and Honorary Alumnus Award from the Duke Medical Alumni Association.
He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Agnes Barden; three daughters, Anne Leggett and her husband, Reid of Charlotte, NC, Agnes Butler, and her husband, Albert of Winston-Salem, NC, and Sarah Sabiston of Salt Lake City, UT; and five grandchildren, Carter, Sarah, and Andrew Leggett, David and Bill Butler; and his sister, Alma S. Peacock of Wilmington, NC.
The family expresses their deep appreciation to the compassionate and professional staff of the DuBose Health Center.
A memorial service will be held Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. in the Duke University Chapel. All of the students and residents who have trained with Dr. Sabiston will be honorary pallbearers.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the David C. Sabiston, Jr. Endowed Professorship, c/o Department of Surgery, DUMC, Durham, NC 27710.
Howerton & Bryan Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.