Boy Scouts to Honor Dr. Chitwood

The Pitt District of the East Carolina Council has selected Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood, Jr. as its 2009 Distinguished Citizen Award Recipient. Dr. Chitwood is senior associate vice chancellor for health sciences at East Carolina University and Director of the East Carolina Heart Institute. He is the past chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Brody School of Medicine at ECU. Dr. Chitwood helped develop the da Vinci Surgical System, which today is used for heart and many other operations. In 2000, Dr. Chitwood used the da Vinci system to perform the first complete robotic mitral valve repair in North America. Dr. Chitwood recently performed his 450th mitral valve repair using the da Vinci system. Surgeons from around the world come to ECU to learn robotic surgical techniques. Along with these accomplishments, he has pioneered the field of minimally invasive cardiac surgery. He is the immediate past president of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

A former Scout from Galax, Virginia, Dr. Chitwood is a strong believer of the Scouting program. He is proud of having earned the Life Scout rank, and cites not earning the Eagle Scout rank as one of his regrets in life.

Dinner Chair, Dr. Wiley Nifong said, “Dr. Chitwood’s contribution to the field of cardiac surgery has placed him in a select group of heart surgeons worldwide. In his role as surgeon he has made Greenville a major destination for both patients and physicians.” A dinner in his honor is scheduled for April 8, 2009 at Rock Springs Center. For more information contact Michael Hesbach at 252-413-9778 or mhesbach@bsamail.org.

Date : April 8, 2009

Location : Rock Springs Center