University Times

Catherine DeAngelis

Pitt alumna and trustee Catherine D. DeAngelis, the first pediatrician and first woman to be named editor in the 116-year history of the Journal of the American Medical Association, spoke Feb. 27 at the University’s 28th annual honors convocation.

DeAngelis was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree at the convocation ceremony, held to mark the 217th anniversary of the University’s founding. The convocation recognizes achievement by faculty, staff, students and alumni.

DeAngelis also is editor-in-chief of scientific publications and multimedia applications for the American Medical Association. She continues to hold a faculty position as professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she was vice dean for academic affairs and faculty.
She spoke on “The Importance of Caring.”

“I am deeply moved. Receiving a second doctorate from Pitt is really something,” Catherine DeAngelis told the honors convocation audience at Carnegie Music Hall last week. “Now do you have to call me ‘Doctor Doctor…’?”

DeAngelis drew from her memories as a Pitt med student, from her experiences working with adolescents, from a quote by Mother Theresa and from a joke about academic credentials to share her thoughts on “something I feel very deeply about, and that’s the importance of caring.

“I’ll begin with a story,” she said, delivering a joke in mock Italian accent. “Two gentlemen are sitting on a train in Italy. One man says, ‘Hey, what’s your name?’

“His fellow traveler answers, ‘I’m Giuseppe Pasquellini. What’s your name?’

“‘I’m Giuseppe Pasquellini, too. Where do you live?’ says the first man.

“‘Palermo,’ the second answers.

“‘Hey, I live in Palermo, too. How you spell your name?’

“The man takes a piece of paper and makes a giant X. ‘How you spell your name?’

“The first man makes two giant Xs.

“The second man says, ‘Hey, my name is Giuseppe Pasquellini and your name is Giuseppe Pasquellini. We’re both from Palermo. I spell my name like this, with one X. Why you spell your name with two Xs?’

“‘I’m Giuseppe Pasquellini … M.D.’

“There is a method to my madness in that story,” DeAngelis continued, “because it shows that like so many in this room — those awardees who represent the best and brightest of the University of Pittsburgh — that you have some very special gifts: intellect, education and success, either now or very soon. That means you have power.”

With power comes responsibility. With more power comes more responsibility, she said. “And the biggest responsibility is to care.”

To the parents and future parents in the audience, DeAngelis said that caring often means saying “no.” “There is a lot of power in being a parent and a lot of responsibility to care. I deal with a lot of adolescents and young adults. Don’t be afraid to say no. It shows you care.”

To those at the ceremony who are or will become professionals, lawyers, doctors, business people and others, there also are responsibilities that come with that, she said. “You have to take care of those who come to you for your help and expertise. And that means you have to care for them.”

Success should not be measured by money or fame or brain power, she stressed. “None of these things really mean anything unless you care. Caring comes from your soul, however you define it. Those of you who have cared for things know what a wonderful feeling that is. No feeling in the world matches that, when you really care about someone or something, that is so special,” DeAngelis said.

She said one of the key insights in her life came from Mother Theresa, who once said: “You can accomplish anything you want as long as you don’t care who gets the credit.”

“That’s probably one of the most difficult things for people with power: that what you want to accomplish is much more important that your getting credit for it,” DeAngelis said.

To illustrate the point she recalled her med school days when the tedium of dissecting cadavers in anatomy class was relieved by students reading aloud from the J.R.R. Tolkein trilogy, since made into “The Lord of the Rings” films.

“We all had our ‘Frodo Lives!’ buttons attached to our mangy lab coats,” she said, referring to the character Frodo, commonly considered the trilogy’s hero.

“And I remember one line especially, because it pointed out to me who the true hero was in the ‘Lord of the Rings,’” she said. “The true hero was Sam,” Frodo’s companion on the long trek to destroy the ring that only Frodo is qualified to carry.

“At a point in the story when everybody is exhausted, including those in the audience or who are reading it, Frodo just can’t go on any more. And Sam says, ‘Mr. Frodo, I can’t carry the ring, but I can carry you.’ “That’s what makes Sam the hero, because he cared so much for his Mr. Frodo, and he cared very much for the mission and he never thought about who got the credit.

“So, caring is a responsibility, but it also becomes a special gift that comes from responsibility. It’s a wonderful feeling when you feel caring and, when you show caring, it becomes a wonderful gift. So what I wish for all of you in this audience and on this stage is that you all feel and get the gift of caring.”

DeAngelis earned her medical degree from Pitt’s School of Medicine in 1969 and holds a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard’s School of Public Health.

She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine and has served as an officer of numerous national academic societies, including past chair of the American Board of Pediatrics and current chair of the Pediatric Accreditation Council for Residency Review Committee of Graduate Medical Education.

She is author or editor of 10 books and has written more than 150 articles, chapters, editorials and abstracts. Her recent publications focus on conflicts of interest in medicine, women in medicine and medical education.

Named a Pitt trustee in February 2003, she also serves on the board of visitors of the medical school here. DeAngelis received the Distinguished Alumni Fellow Award at the 2003 honors convocation, after being named a 2000 Legacy Laureate, one of Pitt’s highest alumni awards.

—Peter Hart