Sarah (Holly) Lisanby, MD, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and James Blumenthal, PhD, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, have been named J.P. Gibbons Professors of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Lisanby is an internationally recognized leader in the field of brain stimulation. A pioneer in a novel depression treatment called magnetic seizure therapy (MST), she is the co-author on more than 150 publications. Dr. Blumenthal is considered a vanguard on research focused on psychosocial factors and coronary heart disease, depression and exercise. These distinguished professorships were established in 1963 by the late John P. Gibbons, Jr., a 1929 graduate of Duke University’s Trinity College, and his wife, Dorothy.
Edward Buckley, MD, vice dean for education and interim chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, has been named the Joseph A.C. Wadsworth Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology. A renowned expert in pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus, Dr. Buckley has trained over 45 clinical and 10 research fellows. This distinguished professorship is one of two professorships in ophthalmology established in 1980 by the late James M. Hornaday and his wife, Virginia, to honor the late Joseph A.C. Wadsworth, MD, a 1939 graduate of Duke University School of Medicine and the first chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology.
Distinguished professorships are the highest academic award that a university can bestow on a faculty member. They recognize faculty members’ achievements in science and medicine, pay tribute to named honorees, and serve as an enduring tribute to the donor who established them.
