Distinguished Service Award

Established in 1969, the Distinguished Service Award recognizes those who have made significant and far-reaching contributions to the Society. Recipients are selected by the STS Executive Committee, based on the recommendations of the current President. The following are past recipients of the award:

1969 - John D. Steele   
1970 - Paul C. Samson
1972 - Lyman A. Brewer III  
1975 - Robert G. Ellison
1977 - Ralph D. Alley       
1981 - Herbert Sloan 
1991 - Thomas B. Ferguson 
1998 - W. Gerald Rainer    
1998 - Harold C. Urschel Jr.
1999 - Jack M. Matloff
2000 - Robert L. Replogle
2001 - Timothy J. Gardner
2001 - Sidney Levitsky
2001 - George E. Miller
2002 - Richard G. Sanderson
2003 - Benson R. Wilcox
2004 - Richard P. Anderson
2005 - Nicholas T. Kouchoukos
2006 - Gordon F. Murray
2006 - Mark B. Orringer
2007 - Fred H. Edwards
2007 - Peter K. Smith
2008 - Jeffrey B. Rich
2008 - Betsey Bradley Urschel
2010 - Frederick L. Grover
2010 - John E. Mayer Jr.
2011 - L. Henry Edmunds Jr.
2012 - Robert M. Sade 
2013 - Michael J. Mack
2013 - Carolyn E. Reed 
2014 - Douglas J. Mathisen
2015 - William A. Baumgartner
2016 - Robert A. Guyton
2017 - David M. Shahian
2018 - Marshall L. Jacobs
2018 - Francis C. Nichols III
2018 - Cameron D. Wright
2019 - James M. Levett
2019 - Douglas E. Wood
2020 - Robert L. Kormos
2020 - Robert A. Wynbrandt
2021 - Alan M. Speir
2022 - Joseph E. Bavaria
2022 - Joseph A. Dearani
2023 - Stephen J. Lahey
2023 - Richard L. Prager
2024 - Keith S. Naunheim

Earl Bakken Scientific Achievement Award

The Earl Bakken Award was established in 1999 through a grant from medical equipment company Medtronic, Inc., to honor individuals who have made outstanding scientific contributions that have enhanced the practice of cardiothoracic surgery and patients' quality of life. The award is named for one of the co-founders of Medtronic, Earl Bakken. Among numerous other achievements, Mr. Bakken developed the first wearable artificial pacemaker.

Selected by the STS Nominating Committee, recipients of the Earl Bakken Award receive a cash prize of $10,000. The following are past recipients of the award:

2000 - Gerald D. Buckberg
2001 - Rene G. Favaloro
2001 - W. Dudley Johnson
2002 - Hermes C. Grillo
2003 - Denton R. Cooley
2004 - Richard D. Weisel
2005 - Randall B. Griepp
2006 - Vincent L. Gott
2007 - Joel D. Cooper
2008 - William A. Baumgartner
2009 - James L. Cox
2010 - Mark B. Orringer
2011 - Philippe Menasche
2012 - Sidney Levitsky 
2013 - D. Craig Miller
2014 - G. Alexander Patterson
2015 - Irving L. Kron
2016 - Frederick L. Grover
2017 - Eric A. Rose
2018 - Robert H. Bartlett
2019 - Valerie W. Rusch
2020 - Sir Magdi Yacoub
2021 - Edward L. Bove
2022 - Thomas K. Waddell
2023 - Bartley P. Griffith
2024 - William E. Cohn

President's Award

Selected by the STS President, the recipient of this award is recognized for submitting the best scientific abstract to the Annual Meeting Program by a lead author who is either a resident or a young investigator who has completed his or her training within the last 5 years. The following are past recipients of the award:

2011 - Michael Ko
2012 - Mark J. Russo
2013 - Matthew L. Williams
2014 - Tarek Malas
2015 - Justin M. Schaffer and Kenan Yount
2016 - Paul J. Speicher
2017 - Panos Vardas
2018 - David D. Odell
2019 - Tara Semenkovich
2020 - Arman Kilic
2021 - Rodrigo Alexander Zea Vera
2022 - Michael J. Pienta
2023 - Elizabeth H. Stephens
2024 - Brett F. Curran

Thomas B. Ferguson Lecturers

One of the few to have been President of both STS and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, Dr. Ferguson was editor of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery from 1984 to 2000 and is credited with raising both the academic and international profiles of the journal. In the spirit of Dr. Ferguson's creative work in moving cardiothoracic surgeons beyond their traditional frame of reference, the Thomas B. Ferguson Lecture was established to continue his work in expanding horizons to the realm of learning beyond the basic sciences of cardiothoracic surgery practice. The following are past presenters of this prestigious lectureship:

2001 – William H. Frist
2002 – Shukri F. Khuri
2003 – David A. Kessler
2004 – Donald J. Palmisano
2005 – James P. Bagian
2006 – David P. Taggart
2007 – William H. Frist
2008 – Elizabeth O. Tiesberg
2009 – Bruce E. Keogh
2010 – Jeffrey B. Rich
2011 – Atul Gawande
2012 – Jeffrey E. Shuren
2013 – Mark B. McClellan
2014 – Bassem Youssef
2015 – Pedro J. del Nido
2016 – Scott Parazynski
2017 – Ralph W. Muller
2018 – John Z. Ayanian
2018 – Karen Joynt Maddox
2019 – Laurie H. Glimcher
2020 – Domenico Pagano
2021 – Enrico Ruffini
2021 – Alan Sihoe
2021 – Craig R. Smith Jr.
2022 – Amy C. Edmondson
2023 – Max Lucado
2024 – Rochelle Walensky

C. Walton Lillehei Lecturers

The first Lillehei Lecture was delivered at the STS 45th Annual Meeting in honor of C. Walton Lillehei, MD, who is considered a pioneer in the field of open heart surgery with his landmark intraventricular operations in 1954 and 1955. The C. Walton Lillehei Lecture was established and endowed by the Lillehei family to address different topics each year that pertain to research, basic science, or any other area of interest to the field. The following are past presenters of this prestigious lectureship:

2009 – Doris A. Taylor
2010 – William A. Neal
2011 – Joseph P. Vacanti
2012 – Friedrich W. Mohr
2013 – Carolyn M. Clancy
2014 – Shaf Keshavjee
2015 – Patrick T. O’Gara
2016 – Gary Taubes
2017 – Samer Nashef
2018 – Robert H. Bartlett
2019 – Eric Topol
2020 – Bartley P. Griffith
2021 – Paul G. Yock
2022 – Cameron D. Wright
2023 – Peter K. Smith
2024 – Mortimer J. Buckley

Vivien T. Thomas Lecturers

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons launched a new named lecture at its 2020 Annual Meeting. It was in honor of Vivien Thomas, a black surgical technician with only a high school education who steadfastly designed and tested anastomosis of the subclavian artery to the pulmonary artery, resulting in the landmark "blue baby" operation in 1944 for children with tetralogy of Fallot. The following are past presenters of this prestigious lectureship:

2020 – Clyde W. Yancy
2021 – Quinn Capers IV
2022 – Henri R. Ford
2023 – Francisco G. Cigarroa
2024 – Edward M. Barksdale Jr

Herbert E. Sloan Lecturers

The following are past presenters of this prestigious lectureship:

1988 – Joel D. Cooper
1992 – Mark V. Braimbridge
1995 – Robert H. Anderson
1996 – Philippe G. Dartevelle

Ralph D. Alley Lecturers

The following are past presenters of this prestigious lectureship:

1991 – Harry Schwartz
1997 – Yasuharu Imai
1998 – Vincent L. Gott
1999 – Miles F. Shore
2000 – Hans G. Borst
2001 – William R. Brody