Endowed chair honors Thomas P. Graham, M.D.

Beloved cardiologist Thomas P. Graham, M.D., will soon be honored with the creation of an endowed pediatric cardiology chair in his name. A campaign to fund the chair is currently underway.

"I am so incredibly honored by the naming of this chair," Graham said. "I get choked up about it."

Graham, a graduate of Duke University Medical School, joined Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in 1971 to start the hospital's first Pediatric Cardiology program, and served as chief of the division until his semi-retirement in 2004. He reduced his clinic hours by half, and now sees pediatric cardiology patients twice a week.

During his long and distinguished career, he served as interim chair of the Department of Pediatrics, as vice chair for Clinical Affairs in the department, and as chair of the Medical Center Medical Board.

Graham was named the Ann and Monroe Carell Family Professor of Pediatric Cardiology in 1985; this chair is now held by Thomas Doyle, M.D., associate professor of Pediatrics and director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory in the Division of Pediatric Cardiology.

"Receiving the chair 20 years ago was quite an honor," Graham said. "After going to a half-time schedule last year, I knew that it needed to go to someone else, and I am delighted that it went to Dr. Doyle."

Graham added, "He is very deserving, and I know we'll continue to see great things out of him in the future. I am proud of his accomplishments and I know he'll accomplish even more."

Doyle, a graduate of the University of Arizona School of Medicine, joined Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in 1994 to start the first pediatric interventional cardiology program, after meeting with Graham.

"I do not feel worthy of this honor," Doyle said. "It's an unbelievable honor to inherit this from Dr. Graham. He is the reason I came to Vanderbilt. He encouraged me to do things right out of my fellowship that I wasn't certain I could do, and he supported me throughout my efforts to build an interventional cardiology program."

Doyle added, "I look at Dr. Graham as someone who is a true gentleman in every sense of the word. He is a wonderful husband, a superb father and a doting grandfather - and at the same time, one of the most respected, intelligent pediatric cardiologists in the world."

Doyle said he was very thankful and appreciative of Monroe Carell Jr. and his wife, Ann, for continuing to fund the chair in the Pediatric Cardiology division.

"This is a family that through their generosity has impacted the lives of thousands of children and that is a non-repayable debt," Doyle said.

Scott Baldwin, M.D., the new chief of Pediatric Cardiology, added "I cannot think of a better person than Tom Doyle to carry on the legacy of the Ann and Monroe Carell Chair. Dr. Graham has served as an exemplary model for academic pediatric cardiologists worldwide and I think Tom Doyle is certainly following in his footsteps. Utilization of a portion of the Carell Chair endowment to fund a fourth-year fellow in Interventional Cardiology provides a unique opportunity for Dr. Doyle to share his unique talents by training the next generation of leaders in the field." VM
- Jessica Howard