Historical perspectives of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery: Thomas B. Ferguson (1923-2013)

Abstract

Thomas Bruce Ferguson, 62nd president of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), was born in Oklahoma City on May 6, 1923. His roots in Oklahoma ran deep, as his grandparents, Thompson and Elva Ferguson, were pioneer Oklahomans. They crossed into the Oklahoma Territory from Kansas during the ‘‘second run’’ for land claims in the early 1890s, when Dr Ferguson’s father was 8 years old. ‘‘They literally shot a shotgun off at noon,’’ Dr Ferguson recently recounted, ‘‘and went helterskelter as fast as they could until they found a plot of land that they liked and could stake a claim.’’* His grandparents settled in theCherokeeOutlet and started a newspaper called the Watonga Republican. His grandfather was appointed Territorial Governor by Teddy Roosevelt in 1901, before Oklahoma became a state, while his grandmother continued to run the paper for more than 30 years. Dr Ferguson’s father, Walter Scott Ferguson, first began writing a political column ‘‘Over the Tea Cup’’ at the age of 17. Lore has it that the column contained so much inside information that Walter had to be snooping about the governor’s office from time to time. Walter was barred from political discussions by the Governor’s advisors, but by then his reputation as a controversial writer was entrenched. Walter met Lucia Loomis at the University of Oklahoma, and after they wed they moved to Northwest Oklahoma and bought the local newspaper, the Cherokee Republican. Walter went into banking after a few years and was a very active legislator after Oklahoma became a state. One of his famous quotations was, ‘‘A legislator must always respect the views of his opponents, even if he does not agree with them,’’ recalled Dr Ferguson, a quotation he felt was particularly relevant given the ‘‘harangue and fighting that the national legislature is carrying out today.’’ Dr Ferguson’s mother stayed in the newspaper business and became one of America’s best-known syndicated columnists for more than 4 decades. Her daily column, ‘‘AWoman’s Viewpoint,’’ was picked up by the Scripps-Howard syndicate and published in 69 newspapers across the country.