About the Donor
Leo J. McCarthy, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, was the Director of Transfusion Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine for three decades. In 1991, he became a Fellow in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, and in 1994 a fellow in the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
Dr. McCarthy created and endowed the annual Leo J. McCarthy, M.D. Lectureship in Transfusion Medicine in 1997 at IU School of Medicine, where he also established an accredited fellowship in Transfusion Medicine in collaboration with the Indiana Blood Center. At the 1997 Indiana Association of Blood Banks he received the Victor H. Muller Award to acknowledge his contributions to transfusion medicine, blood banking, and transfusion services.
In 2000 Dr. McCarthy became an alumnus member of the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Medical Honor Society Nebraska Chapter. He was honored in 2001 with the IUPUI campus-wide Glenn W. Irwin, Jr., M.D. Excellence Recognition Award. In 2002 he received the John Elliot Memorial Award that recognizes an individual for outstanding service to the American Association of Blood Banks, an international not-for-profit association dedicated to the advancement of science and the practice of transfusion medicine. One year later in recognition of his mastery of and passion for transfusion medicine, he became a Sagamore of the Wabash, Indiana’s highest award given by the governor. Dr. McCarthy retired in 2003 but has remained actively involved in his lectureship.
About the Lectureship
History is not simply a series of dates and names. Nor are the lessons it imparts ever entirely in the past. In medicine, there is the desire to always look forward, a push to constantly advance. To do so, casting a glance back is invaluable. For, Leo J. McCarthy, M.D., FRCP (Edin/Ire), this statement informs his passion for the history of medicine.
In May 2015, Dr. McCarthy made a generous gift to establish an endowed lectureship on the history of medicine. The lectureship brings experts to campus to address topics that not only enlighten and educate students and faculty, but instill the same passion to understand the evolution of their profession.
The IU School of Medicine and the Ruth Lilly Medical Library deeply appreciate Dr. McCarthy’s vision, passion, and support to make this lectureship possible.
