University Times

A memorial service for Henry T. Bahnson, who was credited with building the Pitt medical school’s Department of Surgery into one of the top surgery departments in the United States, will be held May 23 at 1 p.m. in Heinz Memorial Chapel.

A reception will follow in the Members Lounge of the University Club, 123 University Place.

Bahnson was a professor of surgery and department chairman here from 1963 to 1987, making him the longest-serving chairman in the Pitt medical school’s 116-year history. He was the first to hold the George V. Foster Chair in Surgery. Following his retirement as surgery chair, Bahnson continued to serve on the Pitt medical faculty until his death on Jan. 10 at age 82, following complications from a stroke.

In 1968, Bahnson performed the first heart transplant in Pennsylvania. Thirteen years later, he recruited organ transplantation pioneer Thomas E. Starzl to Pitt, a move that helped establish the University among the world’s leading transplant centers.

Memorial gifts may be directed to the Louise P. Bahnson Fellowship Trust Fund, c/o University of Pittsburgh Institutional Advancement, 500 Craig Hall, 200 S. Craig St., Pittsburgh 15213.