Real soul of the Asian Society for Vascular Surgery, a superb clinician, and a humanitarian: Professor John B. Chang
Professor John B. Chang, one of the founders of the Asian Society for Vascular Surgery (ASVS); a distinguished professor in Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; an internationally recognized vascular surgeon; and a humanitarian, passed away on December 1, 2015 at the age of 80 years. Prof. Chang was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1936 and received his MD degree in 1962 from Seoul National University, Korea. He did his residency training in surgery at the National Medical Center, Korea, and married Dr. Lucy J. Chang in 1967. He moved to the United States and did his postgraduate training in vascular surgery in Cleveland, OH and Long Island Jewish Medical Center, NY. His academic appointments included professor in Stony Brook School of Medicine, NY; Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY; and Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, NY. He published several hundreds of international articles and wrote many book chapters on vascular surgery. Prof. Chang received several honors, recognitions, and awards for his exceptional work as a vascular surgeon. Moreover, in 2014, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the LIJ Medical Center Staff Society recognizing him for his high qualities as an educator, humanitarian, and leader. He was the chairman of the Board of Directors of the International College of Angiology and the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Angiology. As we all know very well, Prof. Chang was the founding chairman of ASVS. In 1992, he discussed the formation of ASVS with late Yongkak Lee (Korea), late Yoshio Mishima (Japan), and Zhong Gao Wang (China). In 1994, the first Congress of ASVS was held in Ube, Japan. At that time, Prof. Chang designed the symbol for ASVS. He described the meaning of the symbol as follows: the outer circle signifies the “Universe,” and the inner circle indicates “Unity.” The red color at the center and “A” signify “Arterial circulation” and “Asian.” The blue color at the center and “V” indicate “Venous circulation” and “Vascular.” The yellow at the center indicates “Lymphatic circulation.” “S” at the center signifies “Society” and “Surgery.” The configuration at the center with “Red” and “Blue” also signifies the profound Oriental philosophy of “Ying” and “Yang,” the eternal harmony. Prof. Chang was the real soul of ASVS. All members of ASVS and I would like to extend our condolences to his wife Lucy and two sons and three grandchildren.
Rest in peace dear Prof. John B. Chang. We will remember you forever.
