The Thomas G. Wharton Memorial Lecture is given each year by the President of The Academy at the Annual Seminar of The American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion.
This series is reprinted with the permission of The Proceedings of The American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion.
Thomas Wharton was a friend of perfusion in the true sense of the word. He worked for Travenol Laboratories for sixteen years starting in 1958. Tom then started his own company, Human Resources, Inc. During this time he served as the first Executive Director of the Journal of Extracorporeal Technology, the Executive Director of the American Society of Extracorporeal Technology (1977) and the Executive Director of the American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion. In 1978, Tom moved to California accepting the position of Product Manager of tubing packs for William Harvey Research Corporation.
Thomas Wharton believed in perfusion as a career and a profession. He also believed in formal education for the perfusionist. In the summer of 1979, Tom handed a perfusionist from Birmingham, Alabama, $2000.00 and told him to “go out and start that perfusion education organization we have talked about for so long.” That is how this Academy was founded. Unfortunately while driving to work that fall, Tom had a heart attack and died. He never witnessed the formation or attended the first meeting of this society he was so instrumental in forming.
Disclaimer
Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion. Our organization promotes a mission of scholasticism and academic dialogue for the purpose of education and dissemination of science as related to cardiovascular perfusion technology.
| 1988 | “The Cause and Cure for the Shortage of Perfusionists “ | Raymond C. Stofer |
| 1993 | “On A Personal Note…..” | James MacDonald |
| 1994 | “Reflections on the Future” | Sue K. Reaves |
| 1995 | “Love and Perfusion” | Jerry W. Richmond |
| 1996 | “If I Do This, I Cannot Do That” | Diane Clark |
| 1997 | “Life Hangs in the Balance“ | Richard Berryessa |
| 1998 | “What Will Be Our Legacy?“ | David A. Palanzo |
| 1999 | “What Will You Be When You Grow Up?” | Frank Delgado |
| 2000 | “Now Is Forever?” | Richard G. L. Chan |
| 2001 | “What will it take to meet the challenges of this century?” | Robert C. Groom |
| 2002 | “Entropy of the Perfusion Profession: Fact or Fiction?” | Ronald M. Babka |
| 2003 | “Hail to the Unsung Hero“ | John M. Toomasian |
| 2004 | “Funding A Future For Perfusion” | David Ogella |
| 2005 | “Perfusion: The Missing Link” | Sherry Faulkner |
| 2006 | “IMPACT” | James G. Beavers |
| 2007 | “Investing In Our Future” | Joseph J. Sistino |
| 2008 | “Who Moved My Pump” | Robert Kroslowitz |
| 2009 | “The Vision for Opportunity” | Thomas M. Frazier |
| 2010 | “Teamwork: A Necessary Requirement For Success” | Ian R. Shearer |
| 2011 | “Keep the Fire Burning” | Edward Darling |
| 2012 | “Grateful, But Grumpy” | Daniel FitzGerald |
| 2013 | “The Pervasion of Perfusion” | Linda Mongero |
| 2014 | “Building on Innovation” | D. Scott Lawson |
| 2015 | “Experience: The Greatest Teacher” | Steven W. Sutton |
| 2016 | “Extreme Ownership” | Vincent F. Olshove, Jr. |
| 2017 | “We Only Look Back To See How Far We Have Come” | Kevin Lilly |
| 2018 | “Building Successful Teams, the Reality Approach” | James Beck |
| 2019 | “Because I Am A Perfusionist” | Kevin Charette |
| 2020 | “The Magic of Cumulative Effect” | Carmen Giacomuzzi |
| 2022 | “The Four C’s of Communication” | William Riley |
| 2023 | “Symphony of Perfusion” | Justin Resley |
| 2024 | “The Ripple Effect: Unleashing the Power of Small Actions” | David Fitzgerald |