[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 18663]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                    TRIBUTE TO DR. LEVI WATKINS, JR.

 Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, today I wish to salute Dr. Levi 
Watkins, Jr., a renowned cardiac surgeon who will retire at year's end 
from Johns Hopkins Medicine. During his 4-decade-long career, Dr. 
Watkins has had a profound impact on American health care--through the 
countless patients he has treated, the students he has recruited and 
mentored, and the cultural diversity he has advanced.
  Levi Watkins, Jr. grew up in Montgomery, AL, the third of Dr. and 
Mrs. Levi Watkins, Sr.'s six children. At the Alabama State Laboratory 
High School, Watkins excelled in academics and athletics: he graduated 
valedictorian and was selected for the Montgomery All-Star basketball 
team. It was in Alabama that he witnessed the early days of the civil 
rights movement. As a member of the First Baptist Church of Montgomery, 
Watkins developed a close friendship with his pastor, the Reverend Dr. 
Ralph David Abernathy, and later he attended Dexter Avenue Baptist 
Church, where he was introduced to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, 
Jr. and the King family.
  Watkins majored in biology as an undergraduate at Tennessee State 
University, where he was elected president of the student body and 
joined Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Alpha Kappa Mu honor society, 
Beta Kappa Chi honor society, and many other notable organizations. 
Watkins also led many student movements on campus and graduated with 
highest honors.
  Dr. Watkins' medical career has been one of monumental firsts. In 
1966, he integrated the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine as the 
first African-American student ever admitted. He was later selected to 
become a member of Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. Watkins 
arrived at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1970 as a general surgery intern 
and became the first African-American chief resident in cardiac surgery 
in the institution's history. There, in 1980, he performed the world's 
first implantation of an automatic heart defibrillator in a human--a 
procedure that is now performed worldwide and has since saved tens of 
thousands of lives. In 1991, Dr. Watkins became the first African-
American at Johns Hopkins promoted to full professor of cardiac 
surgery. He was named the first African-American associate dean in the 
School of Medicine and established the nation's first postdoctoral 
association, helping to revolutionize the culture of postdoctoral 
education in the United States. Today, there are more than 50 such 
associations across the nation.
  Dr. Watkins has been a fierce advocate for fairness and diversity. He 
joined the Hopkins School of Medicine's admissions committee in 1979, 
and began recruiting minority applicants and sponsoring an annual 
welcoming and networking reception for new students. In 1982, he 
founded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration at Hopkins, an annual 
event that has brought an illustrious array of speakers to Baltimore, 
including Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Stevie Wonder, 
and Taylor Branch.
  In October 2002, Vanderbilt University established a Professorship 
and Associate Deanship in his name; in October 2005, Dr. Watkins' 
portrait was unveiled at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine 
honoring his life's work; and, in 2008, Vanderbilt bestowed upon Dr. 
Watkins its ``Most Distinguished Alumnus Award.''
  Since 2006, when he stopped performing surgery, Dr. Watkins has 
remained a powerful presence and an important influence on Johns 
Hopkins and the city of Baltimore. In December 2008, he was honored by 
the National Black Caucus of State Legislators with the Nation Builders 
Award, along with President-Elect Barack Obama, and James H. Meredith. 
In January of 2012, he was appointed co-chair of Mayor Stephanie 
Rawlings-Blake's transition team for health and human services.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in wishing Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. well 
as he embarks upon the next phase of his lifelong journey to improve 
the health and well-being of others.

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