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18 t m c » p u l s e | d e c 2 0 1 9/JA N 2 02 0 9 DeBakey | Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., was a pioneering cardiac surgeon and innovator who invented the Dacron graft, performed the first successful coronary artery bypass and spent decades as a leader in the developing field of heart transplantation. After volunteering for mil- itary service in World War II, his work led to the development of mobile army surgical hospitals (MASH units). DeBakey also served as president, chancellor and chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine. The Houston Independent School District's Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions and the sprawling Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, both in the TMC, are named for the famous surgeon. DeBakey died in 2008 at age 99. DePelchin | Kezia Payne DePelchin was a social worker, nurse and teacher who worked as head nurse at Houston's first city charity hospital, ran an orphanage for boys and founded Houston's first day care center to support mothers employed outside the home. After her death in 1893, the DePelchin Faith Home was organized and opened as a safe haven for children. For its centennial, the name was changed to DePelchin Children's Center. The organization became a TMC institu- tion in 2012. Spurgeon Gray | Spurgeon Nathaniel Gray was a pioneering black pharmacist who finished pharmacy school in Kansas during Reconstruction and provided health care to blacks in Southeast Texas during the first half of the 20th century. He was an early supporter and funder of the Texas Southern University (TSU) College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, a TMC member since 2002. The pharmacy school's main building, Gray Hall, was named in his honor in 1964. In 2019, the TSU board of regents voted to rename the building for Chicago pharmacist Joan Marie Lafleur, who died in 2016 and willed $3.1 million to TSU—the largest sin- gle gift to the university by an alumnus. Hermann | George Henry Hermann, an oil- man, philanthropist and Civil War veteran, used his fortune for public good. Before his death, he donated the land that became Hermann Park and his estate was willed to the city for the erection and maintenance of Hermann Hospital, a public charity hospital that opened in 1925. Today, the institution is part of the vast Memorial Hermann Health System. Holcombe | Oscar Fitzallen Holcombe, a construction entrepreneur, served as Houston mayor for a total of 22 years, on and off between 1921 and 1958. Holcombe Boulevard, a main thoroughfare of the TMC formerly known as Marlboro Drive, was renamed for Holcombe and extends through the adjacent municipality of West University Place. McGovern | John P. "Jack" McGovern, M.D., was an allergist and scholar noted for his philan- thropy and business acumen. The John P. McGovern Foundation has supported innumerable health causes and medical interests for decades. John P. McGovern is the name of the TMC campus at Almeda and Holcombe, a former Nabisco cookie factory, that is home to the TMC Innovation Institute. The John P. McGovern George H. Hermann C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Houston TMC Pulse_ad_11_2019.pdf 1 11/14/19 6:24 PM