With his prematurely white hair and brisk walking pace, the late James Hardy, MD, glided down the halls of the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMC) seemingly effortlessly, with his lab coat tails fluttering behind him like wings. The image conjured up the nickname, "The Great White Bird."

 

"Dr. Hardy … was larger than life," said Mart McMullen, MD, senior adviser to the vice chancellor and professor of surgery at UMC, who studied under Hardy from 1962 to 1966, and served as an intern and resident under him from 1966 to 1971. "We all knew when he was coming down the hall."

 

Fittingly, Hardy, who chaired the UMC Department of Surgery from 1955 to 1987, was inducted posthumously into the 2009 Innovators Hall of Fame as one of four trailblazers who has "demonstrated excellence in innovation and technology and represent Mississippians who are best in class," said Randy Goldsmith, PhD, CEO of the Mississippi Technology Alliance (MTA).

 

"Nobody ever went to sleep during grand rounds because Dr. Hardy had a penchant for calling on people mid-sentence," recalled McMullen, with a chuckle. "He might say, 'Mart, write on the board 10 causes of acute cholocystitis.' I quickly learned that if you wrote down three causes in a hurry, he might let you off the hook. But if you pondered for any length of time, it could be a nerve-wracking experience. He might leave you standing in front of the chalkboard the entire time. There was a certain point to it. You had to learn to think, speak and make decisions on your feet." 

 

Born in rural Alabama, Hardy earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1942. Dean David Pankratz recruited Hardy to establish the Department of Surgery at UMC when he was director of surgical research at the University of Tennessee in Memphis. Memphis, he would later say, "lacked the open discussion of surgical mistakes that characterized the department at Penn" and that criticism at Memphis "was often muted because most of the surgeons were in private practice and they declined to openly criticize their peers."

 

Known for strict adherence to ethical guidelines, Hardy was not concerned that the magnitude of his accomplishments was not immediately appreciated—the world's first human lung transplant in 1963, animal-to-human heart transplant in 1964, and double lung transplant in 1987. A prolific writer, he authored 24 books, 139 book chapters, and 466 papers.

 

"Dr. Hardy had tremendous energy," said McMullen. "From him, I truly learned the definition of indefatigable."

 

Hardy's daily routine typically began at 4 a.m., when he began writing. By 7 a.m., he was in his office at the hospital, working while his patients were being prepped

 

for surgery. Then he'd operate until the middle of the afternoon. He might catch a plane to speak at a conference—he held 36 visiting professorships, presented 37 invited lectures, and served as president of most of the major surgical societies in the world—or he would head home to spend time with his wife and four daughters. Around 9 p.m., he would begin writing again and wouldn't stop until midnight. "He didn't waste any time," said McMullen.

 

Hardy did have one indulgence of time. His vacation occurred every August, when he could be found almost daily on the tennis courts at River Hills Club.

 

"My daughters learned social etiquette from Dr. Hardy," recalled McMullen. "They'd ask me, 'why don't you pull out our chairs for us, and stand up when we arrive at the table like Dr. Hardy does?' Dr. Hardy made an impression on people in many areas, some who did not know anything about his medical standing."

 

Katherine Little, MD, a gasterontologist in Dallas who attended her first year of medical school unnoticed as Hardy's daughter, recalled how her dad would run up five flights of stairs, two at a time, with medical school students in tow.

 

"At the top of the stairs, he'd ask a question," she said, chuckling. "The students would be huffing and puffing, trying to keep up, and it would look like Daddy didn't even have to catch his breath. Truth was, he paced himself. He'd ask a question, and catch his breath while the student was answering it. He was a superb teacher, and that's one way he taught students to be ready with quick responses."

 

Helping his dad in the family business – a lime plant and a general store – helped mold Hardy's incomparable work ethic, Little said.

 

"He was so very productive," she said. "In the lime plant, there was a sign that simply said, 'Do it now!' that made an impression on Daddy. He learned at the feet of someone with an excellent work ethic."

 

In his shirt pocket, Hardy always kept a small notebook. "During sermons, Daddy would pull his notebook out and start scribbling. People would think he was jotting down sermon notes, but he wasn't," recalled Little.

 

Despite his contributions as a medical pioneer, Hardy's greatest achievement, Little said, "was providing a high level of training for excellent physicians for Mississippi, especially board-certified surgeons."

 

"He had many opportunities to go elsewhere, especially when he became nationally recognized, but he felt very loved and appreciated in Mississippi and was committed to the state until the very end," she said.