Robert McClelland(1929-2019)

Professor Emeritus of Surgery Dr. Robert McClelland, provided emergency care to President John F. Kennedy. He was thrown forever into the historical spotlight at the age of 34 when he was called into the emergency room at Parkland to care for President Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963. He graduated summa cum laude from UT Austin in 1950 and attended medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch, receiving his medical doctorate in 1954. He served as a U.S. Air Force officer stationed in Germany and completed a residency at Parkland before joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 1962. A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. McClelland became the first holder of the Alvin Baldwin, Jr. Chair in Surgery at UT Southwestern, an endowment designed to support surgical education. In 2009, the Department renamed surgical rotations to honor Dr. McClelland, and the McClelland Lectureship is named for him by the Parkland Surgical Society. In addition, he is an Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus at the UT Medical Branch in Galveston.