NATIONAL SCHOLAR LECTURES AT NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

Phi Kappa Phi Forum, Summer 2006

Phi Kappa Phi National Scholar Dr. Randolph Chitwood delivered the Spring 2006 Phi Kappa Phi Lecture at North Carolina State University (NCSU), hosted by the local chapter, on February 9, 2006. While at NCSU, Dr. Chitwood shared lunch with several Park Scholars (NCSU's most prestigious undergraduate scholarship program) and visited with key cardiac faculty at the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The event was held at the newly completed Friday Institute on Centennial Campus, which is named for William Friday, President Emeritus of the sixteen-campus University of North Carolina System. Dr. Chitwood, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at East Carolina University, is the founder of robotic cardiac surgery in the United States. Internationally recognized for his pioneering work in minimally invasive heart surgery, his investigations and innovations allow surgery to be done inside the heart through small incisions rather than through large traditional cuts that split the breastbone or the ribs.