Dr. Levi Watkins
Distinguished surgeon Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr., was born on June 13, 1944, in Parsons, Kansas, the third of six children; his father, Levi Watkins, Sr., was a college professor who became president of Alabama State College in Montgomery, Alabama. After graduating as valedictorian from the Alabama State Laboratory High School, Watkins entered Tennessee State University, majoring in biology and further developing his interests in political science and civil rights. After graduating with honors from Tennessee State in 1966, Watkins became the first African American to be admitted to and to graduate from Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine.
After graduating from Vanderbilt, Watkins started a general surgery residency at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in 1971, where he was the first black chief resident of cardiac surgery. Watkins continued his professional career by conducting cardiac research at the Harvard Medical School of Physiology from 1973-1975. At Harvard, Watkins investigated the relationship between congestive heart failure and the renin angiotensis system. After returning to Johns Hopkins, Watkins was a cardiothoracic surgery fellow from 1976 to 1978; he became a full-time faculty member in 1978 in the Division of Cardiac Surgery, joining the medical school admissions committee a year later.
In 1980, Watkins performed the world’s first human implantation of the automatic implantable defibrillator; he also developed the cardiac arrhythmia service at Johns Hopkins. Watkins did research on coronary heart disease in African Americans through the Minority Health Commission and Panel for Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery; because of this work on behalf of minority students he was appointed to the National Board of the Robert Wood Johnson Minority Faculty Development Program in 1983.
In 1991, Watkins was promoted to full professor of cardiac surgery and dean for Postdoctoral Programs and Faculty Development at Johns Hopkins. In these positions, Watkins revolutionized postdoctoral education in America by helping to establish the nation’s first postdoctoral association. In 1992, Vanderbilt University established a Professorship and Associate Deanship in Dr. Watkins’s name to honor his work for diversity in medical education.
Watkins received honorary degrees from Sojourner Douglass-College (1988), Meharry Medical College (1989), Spelman College (1996), and Morgan State University (1997); his other professional affiliations included the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Watkins has been the recipient of numerous accolades over the years, including the Vanderbilt Medal of Honor (1998), the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association Heritage Award (1999). In 2000, Watkins was honored by the Guidant Corporation for pioneering work on the automatic defibrillator.
Dr. Watkins passed away on April 11, 2015 at the age of 70.
Levi Watkins was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 5, 2007.
A2007.044
Male
2/5/2007
Watkins
Alabama State Laboratory High School
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Tennessee State University
Levi
Parsons
WAT09
Spring
Kansas
Nice, France
Give Me The Courage To Change The Things I Can. Give Me The Serenity To Accept The Things I Can't Change And The Wisdom To Know The Difference.
Maryland
6/13/1944
Baltimore
United States
Chicken, Fried Fish
4/11/2015
Medical professor and cardiac surgeon Dr. Levi Watkins (1944 - 2015 ) was a professor of cardiac surgery and dean for Postdoctoral Programs and Faculty Development at John Hopkins University. He performed the world’s first human implantation of the automatic implantable defibrillator in 1980, and established the nation's first postdoctoral association.
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Harvard University School of Medicine
Blue, Black, Gold
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Dr. Levi Watkins' interview, session 1
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Dr. Levi Watkins lists his favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Dr. Levi Watkins describes his mother's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Dr. Levi Watkins describes his father's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Dr. Levi Watkins remembers his grandparents
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Dr. Levi Watkins describes his earliest childhood memories
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Dr. Levi Watkins lists his siblings
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Dr. Levi Watkins remembers his neighborhood in Montgomery, Alabama
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Dr. Levi Watkins describes the sights, sounds and smells of his childhood
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Dr. Levi Watkins remembers the Alabama State Laboratory School in Montgomery, Alabama
Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Dr. Levi Watkins talks about his upbringing in Montgomery, Alabama
Tape: 1 Story: 12 - Dr. Levi Watkins describes the Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State College in Nashville, Tennessee
Tape: 1 Story: 13 - Dr. Levi Watkins remembers integrating the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Dr. Levi Watkins recalls his social life at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Dr. Levi Watkins recalls the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Dr. Levi Watkins describes his graduation from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Dr. Levi Watkins remembers Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Dr. Levi Watkins recalls his research at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Dr. Levi Watkins remembers mentoring black students at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Dr. Levi Watkins recalls designing the implantable cardioverter defibrillator
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Dr. Levi Watkins remembers operating on his father
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Dr. Levi Watkins remembers his relationship with his father
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Dr. Levi Watkins talks about the mentorship of Vivien Thomas
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Dr. Levi Watkins remembers the Johns Hopkins Postdoctoral Association
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Dr. Levi Watkins talks about the Robert Wood Minority Faculty Development Program
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Dr. Levi Watkins describes his board memberships
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Dr. Levi Watkins talks about his mentors
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Dr. Levi Watkins describes the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration at Johns Hopkins Medicine
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Dr. Levi Watkins talks about his awards, pt. 1
Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Dr. Levi Watkins remembers being assaulted at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Dr. Levi Watkins recalls being the subject of 'A Dream Fulfilled'
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Dr. Levi Watkins talks about his awards, pt. 2
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Dr. Levi Watkins talks about the Levi Watkins Professorship at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Dr. Levi Watkins reflects upon his life
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Dr. Levi Watkins shares his advice to aspiring physicians
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Dr. Levi Watkins describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Dr. Levi Watkins talks about affirmative action
Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Dr. Levi Watkins talks about the role of religion in the African American community
Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Dr. Levi Watkins reflects upon his values
Tape: 4 Story: 10 - Dr. Levi Watkins describes how he would like to be remembered
Tape: 4 Story: 11 - Dr. Levi Watkins reflects upon the importance of history
Tape: 4 Story: 12 - Dr. Levi Watkins reflects upon his legacy
Tape: 4 Story: 13 - Dr. Levi Watkins describes his mentorship of young people
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Dr. Levi Watkins narrates his photographs