Professorship established to honor Dr. Bruce Carr’s mentorship

By Brittany Worley

Gratitude often inspires giving back to the organizations and causes that have impacted one’s life. Such is the case for Dr. Bruce Carr with a new Professorship named in his honor.

In the summer of 2018, several grateful former fellows, along with family and friends, established the Professorship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, in Honor of Bruce R. Carr, M.D., through Southwestern Medical Foundation. This Professorship will provide funding to a leading faculty member in reproductive endocrinology at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

“Bruce is grateful that his program has attracted the best and brightest,” said Mrs. Carr, a Chaplain at UT Southwestern. “When his 70th birthday was approaching, several of his fellows mentioned that they wanted to do something really special to honor him.” Mrs. Carr surprised her husband with the good news at their 50th wedding anniversary celebration.

The mutual admiration and respect between Dr. Carr and his former fellows is palpable.

“Dr. Carr is a distinguished member of the UT Southwestern faculty and is creating a remarkable legacy,” said Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, President of UT Southwestern. “He has provided the highest quality of care to his patients and trained generations of fellows who have impacted the specialty around the world. This Professorship in his honor is wonderful recognition of his exceptional career.”

Dr. Carr has dedicated his professional career to UT Southwestern. After completing his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at UT Southwestern, he served at the 5th General U.S. Army Hospital in Bad Cannstatt, Germany. He then returned to UT Southwestern, where he completed a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility and joined the faculty in 1980. He is currently Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director of the Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Fellowship Program.

“I was ultimately very impressed with the environment at UT Southwestern,” Dr. Carr said. “There was great potential to learn. The Medical Center had a high clinical load, and I could see that leadership was investing deeply in quality research.”

His office is lined with rows of his 400 bound publications. He has written four textbooks – one of which was translated into Russian – and a study guide, but his legacy spans both the mind and the heart. Highlights of his career include being named the holder of the Paul C. MacDonald Distinguished Chair in Obstetrics and Gynecology and serving as a treasured mentor to the 45 fellows who have worked under his leadership.

He looks upon the progress at UT Southwestern with hope for the future.

“Everything has changed, and we grew with the times,” Dr. Carr said. “The wonderful part about this Professorship is that no matter how much the physical campus of UT Southwestern changes, support for this work will exist in perpetuity.”

“Dr. Carr’s influence in each of the essential elements of the academic medical mission has had a far-reaching and lasting impact,” said Kathleen M. Gibson, President and CEO of Southwestern Medical Foundation. “As he treated countless patients over almost 50 years, Dr. Carr continued to learn, publish, and attract exceptional fellows. Dr. Carr has now taught generations of future physicians who are well prepared to treat patients with the leading knowledge that research-based faculty provide. What a tremendous gift Dr. Carr’s work has been and how appropriate for his friends and family to make this gift in his honor.”

Dr. Carr holds the Paul C. MacDonald Distinguished Chair in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Dr. Podolsky holds the Philip O’Bryan Montgomery, Jr., M.D. Distinguished Presidential Chair in Academic Administration, and the Doris and Bryan Wildenthal Distinguished Chair in Medical Science.