[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 25, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E525]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING DR. THOMAS E. STARZL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DAVID LOEBSACK

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 25, 2017

  Mr. LOEBSACK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Thomas E. Starzl 
of Les Mars, Iowa. A pioneer in the world of science and medicine, Dr. 
Thomas E. Starzl will forever be remembered as an extraordinary member 
of our community. Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Starzl 
revolutionized medicine by successfully performing the first ever human 
liver transplant. Dr. Starzl's work saved thousands of lives, and he 
became known as ``the father of transplantation.'' On March 4, 2017, 
Starzl passed away peacefully at his home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
   Dr. Thomas Starzl was born in Les Mars, Iowa to a family of first 
generation Americans. As an undergraduate, Dr. Starzl attended 
Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri and eventually went on to 
complete an M.D. and Ph.D. in neuroscience at Northwestern University 
Medical School in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Starzl would spend a majority 
of his early career working at the University of Iowa and the 
University of Colorado until his move to University of Pittsburgh, 
where he remained until his retirement. In 2006, President George W. 
Bush awarded Dr. Starzl the National Medal of Science for his 
pioneering work in transplantation. He has also received awards from 
the National Institute of Medicine, the American Liver Foundation, the 
National Kidney Foundation, and the American Medical Foundation, among 
others.
   Dr. Starzl was considered a ``force of nature'' to those who knew 
and loved him. One of his former students remarked that he came to 
recognize Dr. Starzl's ``work ethic and pragmatism as characteristics 
in many of my patients and think that his salt-of-the-earth values must 
have been instilled at an early age.'' I and other Iowans are proud to 
call Dr. Starzl one of our own.

                          ____________________