Chapter 17: The MD Anderson Presidents
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Dr. Levin begins this Chapter by reflecting on R. Lee Clark’s “prophetic leadership” of MD Anderson, noting that his time in Paris gave him a world view that gave rise to the Global Education Program. Dr. Levin notes that he met Dr. Clark after his stroke and became friends with him. (Dr. Levin notes Dr. Clark’s charm as well as his poor taste in restaurants.) Dr. Levin also became his physician after Dr. Clark developed colon cancer. Dr. Levin then characterizes Dr. Charles LeMaistre [Oral History Interview], with his broad view of education and historic participation in the first Surgeon General’s report on cancer. He then describes his vision for MD Anderson, his occasional lack of crisp decisiveness, and his difficult involvement with Enron. He then compares the leadership styles of Dr. LeMaistre and Dr. Frederick Becker [Oral History Interview].
Dr. Levin next talks about Dr. John Mendelsohn, who became a strong ally of cancer prevention within the first year of his presidency. He talks about questioning mind and global vision of cancer that Dr. Mendelsohn brought to the institution, as well as a new management style patterned after business. He reviews what Dr. Mendelsohn and his wife, Anne, were able to accomplish through their strong connections within the community and around the country and world. Dr. Levin then reflects briefly on Dr. DePinho, saying that it is too early to draw any conclusions about the lasting impact he will leave on the institution; he notes he will reserve judgment about the Moon Shots Program, as well.
Identifier
LevinB_02_20130208_C17
Publication Date
2-8-2013
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Bernard Levin, MD, Oral History Interview, February 08, 2013
Topics Covered
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center - Key MD Anderson Figures MD Anderson History Portraits Global Issues –Cancer, Health, Medicine Leadership Understanding the Institution Ethics Controversy MD Anderson History
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Disciplines
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History
Transcript
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I wondered if—yesterday you mentioned as you were leaving—it was after the recorder was off. You said you certainly didn’t want to neglect to talk about R. Lee Clark. I was hoping that you would maybe now reflect a little bit on all of the presidents that you worked with and how you would characterize their leadership style—them as men—the mark they left on the institution.
Bernard Levin, MD:
Well, R. Lee Clark was as—to use the cliché—was larger than life. He was primarily trained as a surgeon, had spent time in Paris, and was recruited at a very young age to be the president of the fledgling MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Why was it important that he had spent time in Paris?
Bernard Levin, MD:
I think it gave him a world view and subsequent development of his career. There used to be a glass showcase of R. Lee Clark’s achievements at the foyer of the entrance. One of the exhibits which I was always mindful of was his determination to reach out to other countries, particularly even Cuba. He had a global view of the importance of MD Anderson. His leadership was in a sense quite prophetic as is now exemplified in the global academic program, which is a very strong part of MD Anderson’s mission to educate and to do research. When I first met him in the last 70s, he was a person with unchallenged authority in the institution. Some of his close colleagues were financial individuals in the institution, as well as Robert Hickey, who was an executive vice president who had—I believe—come from Madison, Wisconsin, at some point. But R. Lee Clark was a charming man with a tremendous ability to put you at rest and ease in his presence. Nevertheless, he was a commanding figure. Unfortunately, while I maintained my contact with him on and off through the years, [Redacted] Even though he would still like to go out and would take my wife and me out for dinner, he had very poor taste in restaurants. I recall we would go to one of his favorite restaurants, and the food was relatively inedible. We didn’t like to tell him this, but we tried to steer him away whenever possible. [Redacted] It was actual irony. Then Mickey LeMaistre, of course, came to head MD Anderson, having had a very illustrious career in the University of Texas system. He had a very broad view of education, and he was trained primarily as an internist. He was very knowledgeable about tuberculosis. Perhaps his early claim to fame was the participation in the first surgeon general’s report on cancer in which he played a very leading role. He and his colleagues helped to frame the beginnings of subsequent legislation that we live with today as well as a tobacco settlement. So he had enormous influence on that aspect. He, too, was a charming individual with great determination and a vision for MD Anderson. He was not a very decisive individual. That sometimes led to a lack of crisp decisions being formulated. At one point, there was a fear that the institution’s finances were actually going bad, and he had an outside group come in. They made recommendations for drastic cuts. Luckily, these were not instituted. In fact, after Dr. LeMaistre retired and when John Mendelsohn became president the very opposite occurred. There was substantial expansion of clinical facilities and the financial picture improved a great deal. Mickey, as is well known, had a large extra-institutional presence. He served on several boards, including the fated Enron Corporation. That led to some personal grief, both during his presidency and subsequently.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Did that have an effect at all on his leadership?
Bernard Levin, MD:
Not that was visible to me. I was relatively not part of his most inner sanctum. I couldn’t be sure of that at all. But there was a lot of vigorous debate at the executive meetings, particularly between him and Dr. Fred Becker. Dr. James Bowen, then Vice President of Academic Affairs, would sometimes be left having to pick up the pieces between these two very demonstrative individuals.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Are you able to characterize what the debate was?
Bernard Levin, MD:
Well, I think it had a lot to do with program size. It had a lot to do with philosophy of management—Fred [Becker] being a person who tends to be somewhat cut and dried, sometimes overlooking the subtleties, and Mickey much more nuanced. Those are not criticisms of those individuals. That just happened to be the way they operated.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Right.
Bernard Levin, MD:
Fred not being someone who forgave easily and Mickey much more willing to forgive and forget, I think. But Mickey had a great view of the field of cancer prevention through his role in tobacco control but much more broadly and was a tremendous supporter of mine and of the whole entire program.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
And Dr. Mendelsohn?
Bernard Levin, MD:
Dr. Mendelsohn came to the institution with tremendous academic background, having been Chair of Medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the founding director of the San Diego Cancer Center, pioneering work in monoclonal antibody targeted research, so a really major figure in cancer research. Initially, he wasn’t—I believe—as sure about the importance of cancer prevention because it was a relatively unfamiliar topic to him. But within the first year—I believe—he became a strong ally, and subsequent support and subsequent events proved that to be the case. He, too, was a person with a large extra-institutional presence and had unfortunate membership of both Enron and ImClone boards, which brought personal grief to him in many ways. But he survived well, and I think those just became mere dots on a page of many other significant achievements. He was someone who also had a global vision of cancer, and the launching of the Global Academic Program is undoubtedly part of his heritage. John [Mendelsohn] had a questioning mind. He was someone who made decisions a little more crisply than Mickey LeMaistre but still was self-admittedly more an internist who analyzed and thought through problems rather than having a surgical personality. He brought a new management style to MD Anderson, much more patterned after business, because he sought advice from business leaders and mixed very easily in business circles. Fundraising was extraordinarily successful under his leadership.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Increased 500 percent—yeah—astonishing.
Bernard Levin, MD:
Yeah, so he was able to capitalize on his own personal charms. His wife Anne and he played very important roles in the civic leadership of Houston, which, again, enhanced his and their ability to both understand the workings of Houston and Texas, but also, more significantly from an institutional point of view, to attract a vast array of donor members. I believe under his leadership the Board of Visitors expanded its vision and its breadth of membership considerably not only to include Houstonians, Texans, but from other parts of the country and even other parts of the world. He also enhanced the external advisory board, which meets annually and provides advice on the programs and direction of the institution and brought in a number of distinguished scientists not only from the United States but from abroad. Scientific visibility was definitely increased. Clinical productivity was enhanced, and recruitment of senior faculty also benefitted.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Your view of Ronald DePinho—though I know that you’ve not had a great deal of contact with him.
Bernard Levin, MD:
I think it’s still too early to tell where his imprint will lie. He obviously has a strong entrepreneurial background and a major career thus far in targeted cancer research. I think that it’s difficult to judge in the first year and a half how his leadership will evolve and what his lasting imprint will be on the institution.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Uh-hunh (affirmative). What’s your view of his Moon Shots Program?
Bernard Levin, MD:
I would have to say that, at this point, it’s reserved. I would reserve judgment.
Recommended Citation
Levin, Bernard MD and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 17: The MD Anderson Presidents" (2013). Interview Chapters. 1353.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1353
Conditions Governing Access
Redacted
