Robert Anderson

1937 - 2021

Robert Anderson
August 7, 1937 - October 19, 2021
Chapel Hill, North Carolina - Dr. Robert W. Anderson of Chapel Hill passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on October 19th at Carolina Meadows.
He was born in Chicago Illinois in 1937. He grew up in Chicago and Kenilworth, Illinois and attended New Trier High School and later graduated with honors from the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University in 1959. While an undergraduate at Duke he was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity and played lacrosse-earning three letters. Following his graduation, he worked in the oil industry in Nigeria, West Africa for Mobil Oil for a brief period. He returned to enroll in Northwestern University's Graduate Engineering Program where he developed an interest in the then newly emerging field of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Anderson received a medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School in 1964 and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business in 1994. He completed residency training in general and cardiothoracic surgery at Duke University Medical Center where he was appointed to the Duke faculty in 1973 as Assistant Professor of Surgery.
Bob was married to Taimi Toffer in 1960 and they have three sons, Michael (Lee), Jeffrey (Melissa), and David (Jenny), and six grandchildren. He was an active member of numerous surgical organizations and participated in community affairs everyplace he and his family have lived. He always considered his family to be the most important factor in his active and engaged life and was dedicated to education at every level. He was an avid golfer and enjoyed sailing and all water sports. He and Taimi were both dog lovers and always had a canine companion (or two) who they enjoyed spoiling.
Bob served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corp. for two years and was Director of the Walter Reed Surgical Shock and Trauma Research Unit in Washington D.C. and the Republic of Viet Nam. He served as Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Minnesota from 1977 to 1984 and then returned to Northwestern University as Professor and Chairman of Surgery at Evanston-Northwestern Hospital and Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Northwestern Medical School. He held joint appointments as Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota and Northwestern University prior to his appointment at Duke where he was appointed Professor of Surgery, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Adjunct Professor of Business at the Fuqua Business School. He always enjoyed telling the story of how he had operated on Mr. Fuqua during his first year on the staff at Duke because all of the senior staff were at a meeting and unavailable for this very important patient. He would then relate that "Duke got the Business School and I got a dozen golf balls"
At the time of his passing, Dr. Anderson was the Emeritus David C. Sabiston, Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Duke University Medical Center and was a practicing cardiovascular surgeon for thirty-three years. After retiring as Chairman of Surgery at Duke, he remained on the Duke Faculty as Professor of Surgery as an investigator and teacher whose interests focused on the areas of health care technology and economics and cardiovascular device innovation. He served as an advisor and Board member on several Duke start-up companies and has served as a consultant to numerous corporations, medical centers, and government agencies both in the U.S. and abroad, He served as a member of the Pratt Engineering School Board of visitors, the Duke IRB and the Coulter Grant Steering Committee. Dr. Anderson was the recipient of peer reviewed research funding from the National Institutes of Health and American Heart Association for twenty-four years and has served as Chairman of the Research Review Study section of the NIH Surgery and Biomedical Engineering Group and the American Heart Association Surgery and Radiology Group. He has published 350 peer reviewed articles, chapters, and books dealing with clinical cardiovascular surgery, myocardial function and ventricular mechanics, the surgical treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, cardiac transplantation, the artificial lung, and the economics of surgical care.
Dr. Anderson was a dedicated teacher who showed a great commitment to the education of medical students and the surgical residents who he worked with both in the classroom and operating theater. He took great pride in the many residents who he helped train and followed their impressive careers and accomplishments with great joy.
He enjoyed spending free time with his family. In Minnesota, sailing on Lake Minnetonka in regattas with his sons and spending vacations fishing in the North Woods. Upon returning to North Carolina, he spent vacations relaxing with frequently visiting family in a vacation home in the mountains near Asheville. He mostly enjoyed spending time with his loving wife of 60 years, Taimi.
His conviviality, generous spirit and always engaging conversation will be missed by family, friends and colleagues. We love you and miss you Bob, Dad, Papa.
Plans for a memorial service at a later date are being made.