Health Care Hall of Fame - 2015

For his lifetime achievements, LeMaistre was chosen to be inducted into the Health Care Hall of Fame.

Despite his reputation as a leader in the fight against cancer, LeMaistre's path toward that place in history was somewhat circuitous, marked by memorable, life-changing events. One of his first run-ins with the medical world came as a 10-year-old when he suffered a ruptured appendix while wandering in the woods with his German shepherd, Inga.

“I was lying on the ground, and Inga took off and left me alone,” he said. “She went to my home, got two of my brothers who carried me back, and I was operated on immediately. It was a lesson that I reflected on many times because there was some reason why I survived that,” he said.

Throughout his early years of education, LeMaistre had an interest in medicine, he said. But his original intention was to attend the Naval Academy in Annapolis on an appointment from then Alabama Sen. Lister Hill. But the week before he was to leave for the academy, LeMaistre suffered an eye injury, making him ineligible.

Instead, he attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, the town where he moved as a child with his mother and five older siblings following his father's death. There, he began his formal education at the Medical College of Alabama in 1943 before completing his doctor of medicine at Cornell University in 1947. After graduation, LeMaistre stayed at Cornell as a faculty member—teaching, practicing medicine and conducting research related to infectious diseases and broad-spectrum antibiotics—before heading to Emory University in Atlanta in 1954.

“I stayed on for five years doing the kinds of things that I really cherished—teaching in internal medicine and conducting a research program,” LeMaistre said of his time in Atlanta. “While I was there, I started the department of preventive medicine to prevent disease, rather than just cure it.”

Highlighting prevention has been a hallmark of LeMaistre's career, but there were still many other choices ahead when he left Atlanta in 1959 to become a professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.

LeMaistre continued to treat patients, as well as serve as medical director of the chest division for Woodlawn Hospital. His time in Dallas also led to his appointment to associate dean of the medical school and later, vice chancellor for health affairs for the entire University of Texas system.

But it was also while in Dallas that LeMaistre's crusade against cancer really took off. He was chosen as one of 10 members on the first surgeon general's advisory committee on smoking and health that would author the landmark 1964 report indicting tobacco as a cause of lung cancer.

“The overall conclusion from the report was that cigarette smoking is a health hazard to warrant appropriate remedial action,” said Don Shopland, who worked as a staff member for the committee during the project at the National Library of Medicine. “I think it was Mickey's idea to suggest the word 'remedial.' A lot of people know that phrase; it was plastered around the media for weeks on end.”

But Shopland said that the long-term impact of the report was its greatest contribution.

“Per capita cigarette consumption in 1963 was the highest level ever reached in this country,” he said. “The report was released Jan. 11, 1964, and since then, there has been a decline in per capita cigarette consumption almost every single year.” As LeMaistre's list of accomplishments grew, so did his reputation, and as a result, his administrative responsibilities.

“He must have had a wonderful Rolodex in the days of Rolodexes,” said Dr. John Mendelsohn, who succeeded LeMaistre as president of M.D. Anderson following LeMaistre's retirement in 1996.

As a physician, LeMaistre was hesitant about leaving his medical duties to follow an administrative path. But one thing led to another, and with some convincing, in 1971 he became the only physician to ever serve as chancellor of the University of Texas System.

“Mickey is a very attractive administrative type because he has all the personality and the intellect,” said Art Dilley, former executive secretary of the UT System Board of Regents. “And he's one of the most articulate guys that I have ever encountered. When Mickey speaks, people listen.”

That included what LeMaistre had to say when he emphasized the need for cancer prevention while at M.D. Anderson.

“We had no one looking at that, except for maybe a little research on diet,” Mendelsohn said.

LeMaistre developed a cancer prevention division that focused on epidemiology, behavioral sciences and working with patients who had a family history of cancer. He also played a major role in expanding M.D. Anderson beyond Houston, bringing it to the community rather than requiring patients to come to the cancer center, Stuyck said. M.D. Anderson operates a network of regional care centers and affiliate cancer hospitals, and has collaborative relationships with institutions worldwide.

It was LeMaistre's concern for the patient—likely because of his years as a practicing physician, or simply as a characteristic of being the Southern gentleman that friends and colleagues often reference—that has marked his long career.

“He is a well-tuned compass of understanding and appreciating not only how to do well, but how to do good and how to make the right decisions,” said David Bachrach, whom LeMaistre recruited to be executive vice president for administration and finance at M.D. Anderson.

According to Bachrach, one of the best stories illustrating LeMaistre's character happened one day when the leadership team at M.D. Anderson was discussing its concerns about another institution applying for a national cancer-institute designation and the potential for competition in funding.

“Mickey, in his inimitable way, said, 'Are you folks done talking about this?' ” Bachrach said. “ 'Because I want to clarify something. The enemy isn't the institution. The enemy is cancer, and we will welcome anyone who is working for a cure to cancer.' ”

At 91, LeMaistre is still actively pursuing just that. Though he is officially retired from his professional life, he continues to play a role in the fight against cancer.

“When I retired from M.D. Anderson in 1996, one of my grandsons said to me, 'Grandfather, you have had so many jobs. You can't seem to hold one,' ” LeMaistre said.

Now, he's added another unofficial job to his long resume—working with his wife, Andi, and others to petition the president, Congress and HHS to protest high cancer-drug prices, so patients will have access to affordable and potentially lifesaving medications.

He has also written a book to be published about the history of the surgeon general's committee.

How does he continue to stay so active after all these years? “I learned to get four hours of sleep while in medical school,” he said. “I've never really broken that.”

Follow Rachel Landen on Twitter: @landenrachel