Figure. Gottlieb C. Friesinger II, MD. Photograph courtesy of Vanderbilt University.
Gottlieb C. (Bud) Friesinger II, MD, Professor of Medicine (Emeritus) and Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (1971–90), died on 28 July 2012 at 83 years of age.
He attended Muskingum College of Ohio, graduating as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and entered the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (class of 1955), graduating as a member of Alpha Omega Alpha. He remained at Hopkins for his training in internal medicine and, finally, as a faculty member. He was the Osler Chief Medical Resident at Hopkins, working closely with the well-known diagnostician A. McGehee Harvey, and with the pioneering cardiac surgeon Alfred Blalock. He was a regimental surgeon for the 5th Marines before being recruited to Vanderbilt in 1971 to serve as the first director of the cardiology division and to establish a new coronary care unit.
At Vanderbilt, Dr. Friesinger rose to national and international prominence as an educator, mentor, and clinical scientist. His research concentrated on coronary angiography and the hemodynamics of myocardial infarction and on the development of nuclear medicine techniques for the study of ventricular function. He authored more than 100 original publications in peer-reviewed journals and 25 textbook chapters, in addition to editing two books.
Dr. Friesinger served on the Board of Trustees at Johns Hopkins University for 21 years, where he was a Presidential Counselor. In 2000, the Friesinger Society was created by former cardiovascular medicine fellows who had trained under him. Members of the Society are dedicated cardiologists of all specialties, who established an endowment and chair at Vanderbilt in his name.
He was consultant to the National Institutes of Health, the Rand Corporation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, where he helped develop programs to foster minority faculty in academic medicine. He was a Master Teacher in both the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians, and he served on the editorial boards of Circulation and The Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
To my mind, Dr. Friesinger was one of the great educators and role models in cardiovascular medicine. He had a “down-home” way of expressing himself and always gave you his frank opinion and advice with no sugar-coating. In one memorable exchange with me, we were preparing questions for the American Board of Cardiovascular Medicine when I made the mistake of challenging him on the source of something that he believed to be fact. His response: “It is from the book of personal experience, Dr. Willerson.”
At his memorial service, his grandchildren mentioned that Bud was a stickler for a neat professional appearance, to the extent that he would wear a dress shirt and tie when performing menial chores at home. He was also a true believer in the need to understand cardiac physiology, anatomy, and the basic sciences, in order to be a good clinician. Young doctors, he thought, needed to master “low tech” (the history, the physical examination, the chest X-ray, and the electrocardiogram) before ordering high-tech imaging at great expense.
Bud Friesinger is already missed by all who treasure education and clinical care in cardiovascular medicine. He made enduring and important personal and professional contributions that have had lasting impact on his students, patients, and colleagues.
James T. Willerson, MD
President and Medical Director, Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston