John P. McGovern (June 2, 1921 - May 31, 2007) was an American

allergist An allergist is a physician specially trained to manage and treat allergies, asthma and the other allergic diseases. They may also be called immunologists. Becoming an allergist Becoming an allergist/immunologist requires completion of at lea ...

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and philanthropist. He established the McGovern Allergy Clinic in Houston, Texas, created the Texas Allergy Research Foundation and the John P. McGovern Foundation, and co-founded the American Osler Society.

Education

He received his B.S. in Medicine from Duke University in 1943 and received his M.D. from the Duke University School of Medicine in 1945. He did post-graduate training at

Yale-New Haven Hospital Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) is a 1,541-bed hospital located in New Haven, Connecticut. It is owned and operated by the Yale New Haven Health System. YNHH includes the 168-bed Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven, the 201-bed Yale New Have ...

, McGuire Hospital and at Duke. At Yale-New Haven Hospital, he was a pediatric intern from July 1945 to June 1946. Then, he served from 1946 to 1948 in the

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of the

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as Captain and as the chief of the paraplegic section. He was an assistant resident at Duke for 6 months. He then spent the first half of 1949, in a pediatric fellowship in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

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, at L'Hôpital des Enfants Malades (

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) and at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

and

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospit ...

(both in

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). Next, he served as assistant chief, then chief resident for another year and a half at

Children's Hospital A children's hospital is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In certain special cases, they may also treat adults. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In 1951, he was a study of pulmonary pathology at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

and

Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2012 is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children's hospital located in Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent both to its teaching affiliate, Harvard Medical Scho ...

Career

After graduating from Duke University School of Medicine, McGovern taught at

George Washington University Medical School The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (abbreviated as GW Medical School or SMHS) is the professional medical school of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. SMHS is one of the most selective med ...

and Tulane Medical School. He held 17 professorships, received 29 honorary doctorates, and authored over 250 professional publications and books. He was also the President and Chief Elect Officer of 15 professional medical societies.

Philanthropy

In 1961, McGovern established the John P. McGovern Foundation as a private philanthropy. Through the Foundation, McGovern gave millions of dollars to various local and health charities. As of 2003, the foundation was the 10th largest in Houston. A lifelong admirer of

Sir William Osler Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, (; July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first residency program for specialty training of phys ...

and the principals of compassionate care he espoused, McGovern co-founded the American Osler Society in 1969.

Notable contributions

* In 1998, the foundation gave $6.5M to establish the McGovern-Davison Children’s Health Center at Duke. The center was co-named for McGovern and his mentor, Wilburt Cornell Davison. * In 2001, McGovern gave $5 million to the

University of Texas Medical Branch The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) is a public academic health science center in Galveston, Texas. It is part of the University of Texas System. UTMB includes the oldest medical school in Texas, and has about 11,000 employees. In Febr ...

(UTMB) to create endowments for 5 William Osler Scholars, forming the John P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine. The endowments award practicing faculty physicians for their commitment to teaching, practicing and emulating the principals of compassionate care. * In 2003, the Foundation gave $2.5M to UTMB, with $1M provided to create an endowment for a 6th Osler Scholar. * Various donations to

Texas Medical Center The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a medical district and neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States, immediately south of the Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 60 medical institutions, largely concentrat ...

for the construction of facilities, a commons area and gardens. * In November 2015, the Foundation donated $75M to bolster medical training, provide full scholarships, and support scientific discovery and innovation at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. It has been the single largest gift from the John P. McGovern Foundation. In honor of the largest gift in university history, the medical school was renamed the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School. The endowment will also support the school's McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics which was established from an earlier foundation gift. * In January 2017, the foundation gave $20 million to the University of Houston College of the Arts to create a permanent endowment that will benefit arts students and faculty, as well as community outreach. The Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts will be the first college at the university named after a former student and also the first named after a woman.

Awards

McGovern is the recipient of 29

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

s. McGovern was named as a fellow to various scientific and medical organizations including the American Association of Pediatrics (1952), the American Association of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (1955, Distinguished Fellow in 1971),

American Medical Writers Association The American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) is a professional association for medical communicators, with more than 4,000 members in the United States, Canada, and 30 other countries. AMWA is governed by a board of directors composed of the ele ...

(1967),

American College of Physicians The American College of Physicians (ACP) is a national organization of internists, who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of adults.Sokanu "What is an Internist?" Retrieved October 20, 2014 With 161,000 members, ACP is the largest ...

(1971), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1972),

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

(honorary, 1984) and the

American Society of Addiction Medicine The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), founded in 1954, is a professional medical society representing over 6,000 physicians, clinicians and associated professionals in the field of addiction medicine. ASAM is dedicated to increasing ...

(1998). In 1976, McGovern was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Duke University.

Other awards

American School Health Association The American School Health Association (ASHA) is a professional association. It claims a membership of 1,000 members in all 50 US states and other nations. More than half practice in K-12 schools or administer health education or health service ...

Distinguished Alumnus Award and the William A. Howe Award *

President Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

Private Sector Initiative Commendation (1985) * The Harold Swanberg Distinguished Service Award and the Special Award for Meritorious Service from the

* Surgeon General's Medal in 1989 for "lifetime of meritorious and multi-faceted contributions to the broad field of health promotion and disease prevention and specifically, more recently for his seminal work on our Drunk Driving Initiative". * Distinguished Service Award from the International Council on Alcohol and Addictions (ICAA) * Royal

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of t ...

( Sweden) in 1988 * L'Ordre National du Merite (France) in 1988 *

Kemal Atatürk Kemal may refer to: ;People * Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a Turkish politician and the first president of Turkey * Kemal (name), a common Turkish name ;Places * Kemalpaşa, İzmir Province, Turkey * Mustafakemalpaşa, Bursa Province, Turkey ;See als ...

Gold Medal Distinguished Service Award (

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

) in 1989 * Annual Outstanding Scholarship in Health Care Award from the American Association of Colleges of Nurses in 1990 * Outstanding Alumnus Award from

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

in 1991 * First Honorary Partner, Points of Light Campaign * Distinguished Citizen Award from the Rotary Club of Houston in 2001 * Houston Hall of Fame (2003) * Presidents Award from the Texas Association of Museums (2003) * First recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Lung Association of Texas (2004)

Honors

* John P. McGovern Award in Behavioral Sciences (Lecture) ( AAAS). * John P. McGovern Science and Society Award,

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 1886 ...

. * John P. McGovern Centennial Award. * John P. McGovern Award in Science, Literature, Arts and the Humanities - Cosmos Club (Lecture). * John P. McGovern Champion of Health Award. * John P. McGovern Award on Addiction and Society ( ASAM).

External links

John P. McGovern Texas Medical Center Commons

John P. McGovern Children's Zoo
at the

Houston Zoo The Houston Zoo is a zoological park located within Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The zoo houses over 6,000 animals from more than 600 species. It receives 2.1 million visitors each year and is the second most visited zoo i ...

McGovern Allergy and Asthma Clinic

John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGovern, John P. United States Army Medical Corps officers Duke University School of Medicine alumni Harvard Medical School alumni 1921 births 2007 deaths American pediatricians 20th-century American philanthropists American expatriates in the United Kingdom American expatriates in France