Everything connects to everything

With Mayor Rahm Emanuel's controversial plan to close 54 underused or underperforming schools, Chicago's educational institutions are once again the focus of negative national publicity. But the system has shown itself to be capable of educating national leaders, as evidenced by the fact that the current presidents of two prominent physician organizations are alumni of Chicago public high schools.

Dr. Jeremy Lazarus, who graduated from Senn High School on Chicago's Northeast side in 1961, was sworn in last June as president of the American Medical Association. Dr. Joshua Jacobs, a 1973 graduate of Taft High School on the city's Northwest side, was sworn in last month as president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

The back story of Lazarus being installed as the AMA's 167th president received some attention because his alma mater was named after Dr. Nicholas Senn, who was the AMA's 49th president.

If there is a connection between Jacobs and the namesake of his high school—William Howard Taft, who served as both U.S. president and U.S. Supreme Court chief justice—it is unknown to this reporter. On the other hand, a collection of 170 Senn-related items can be found in the Rush University Medical Center Archives in Chicago where Jacobs, the 81st president of the AAOS, is chairman of the orthopedic surgery department.

While Jacobs still lives in the Chicago area, Lazarus, a psychiatrist, now lives in Denver—as does the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Dr. Jeffrey Cain. It's believed that there is no connection between Cain and the Chicago school system, but the AAFP's president-elect, Dr. Reid Blackwelder, does have a beard and Taft, who had a mustache, was the last U.S. president to sport facial hair.

So there you have it, as my high school physics teacher said: “Everything connects to everything.”

Follow Andis Robeznieks on Twitter: @MHARobeznieks.