Mansour receives Emory's top alumni honor
Kamal Mansour
Kamal Mansour was in Egypt last year when a medical student at Cairo University went into cardiac arrest while sitting for his exams. The patient required an operation that no one in the country could do. Mansour performed the surgery and later celebrated by eating cake on the recovering patient’s birthday. “I never have a set time to work,” Mansour once said. “Whenever somebody needs me, I go.”
In addition to lending a hand internationally, Mansour taught and practiced cardiothoracic surgery at Emory for 36 years. For his devotion to teaching and medicine, the university awarded him its highest alumni honor, the Emory Medal, in 2008.
Mansour’s relationship with Emory began in 1966 when he was named chief resident in cardiothoracic surgery at Emory University Hospital. He is an expert in tracheal resection and reconstruction, major chest wall resections, correction of chest wall deformities, and esophageal replacement, which involves replacing the esophagus or a portion of it with a section of the bowel and for which Emory is known internationally.
Since earning his medical degree in Egypt in 1954, Mansour has returned countless times to the Middle East to lecture, teach, and operate. Among the honors he holds is the Shield of Medicine as one of the top 10 Egyptian doctors in the world. “The Professor,” a name given to Mansour by Emory residents for his dedication to both students and patients, retired in 2004. That same year, he and his wife Cleo provided a gift to establish the Kamal A. Mansour Professorship of Thoracic Surgery. It’s his way of honoring Emory and encouraging young surgeons in the field.
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The Emory Medal Initiated in 1946, the medal honors alumni for distinguished service to Emory, career achievement, and community or public service. |
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