John P. McGovern Biography

black and white photo of John P. McGovern

1921 - 2007

John P. McGovern, MD was internationally known as a distinguished American physician, philanthropist, humanitarian, and scholar. Professional societies, government agencies, universities, and foreign countries formally recognized his vision, leadership, integrity, character, and achievements. He was the founder of the McGovern Allergy and Asthma Clinic in Houston, Texas, President of the Board of the John P. McGovern Foundation and the McGovern Fund, and namesake of the John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center of the Houston Academy of Medicine - Texas Medical Center Library..

This Biography Film Clip was shown February 12th, 2007 at the Excellence in Medicine Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. where Dr. McGovern was honored with the American Medical Association Foundation's President Award. It was written by Dr. Bryant Boutwell, narrated by Pete Friedmann, and produced by the American Medical Association. Please note the film is in wmv format and therefore only available at this time through Internet Explorer. The film runs 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

Scholarship and Dr. McGovern

Dr. McGovern's long-standing commitment to education, in the form of teaching, research, and scholarship, led to his appointment to 17 professorships at 15 universities. In 1976, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Duke University where he received both his Bachelor of Science and medical degrees. The American School Health Association awarded him the Distinguished Alumnus Award, as well as their highest honor, the William A. Howe Award. He was a Presidential appointee to the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine, which he chaired in 1973-74. In 1990, the American Association of Colleges of Nurses awarded him the annual Outstanding Scholarship in Health Care Award and in 1991, he received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the Phi Beta Kappa Alumni of Greater Houston. In all, he was awarded honorary degrees from 28 major colleges and universities. In addition, Dr. McGovern was the author or co-author of over 240 publications, including 21 books and served as editor, associate editor, or member of the editorial board of more than 20 scientific journals. His leadership was exemplified as chief elected officer or president of at least 15 prominent societies in the humanities, health education, science and medicine.

Education

Honorary Degrees

Post-Graduate Training and Military Service

Certification and Licensure

Editorial Appointments

Faculty Appointments

Hospital Staff and Clinical Appointments

Publications

Books

Service Activity

Service was always important to Dr. McGovern; in 1985, he received the Private Sector Initiative Commendation from President Ronald Reagan for his "lifetime of meritorious service in medicine and generous contributions to his community." He was appointed to a four-year term in 1987 on the National Advisory Council of the Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Health. The following year brought the American Medical Writer's Association's highest honor, the Harold Swanberg Distinguished Service Award and the American Medical Association's Board of Directors' Special Award for Meritorious Service, the latter calling Dr. McGovern "truly one of the giants in American Medicine." In 1989, then-Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop awarded him the Surgeon General's Medal for his "lifetime of meritorious and multi-faceted contributions to the broad field of health promotion and disease prevention and specifically, more recently for his seminal work on our Drunk Driving Initiative."

Internationally, his dedication and servicex earned him the Royal Medallion of the Polar Star (Sweden), L'Ordre National du Merite (France), and in 1989, the first Kemal Ataturk Gold Medal Distinguished Service Award to be awarded to an American citizen by the Government of Turkey.

At the local and regional level, his contributions were also recognized. In 2001, he received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Rotary Club of Houston, Inc. He was inducted into the Houston Hall of Fame in 2003. The Texas Association of Museums presented its 2003 President's Award to him. In 2004 he was the first recipient of the American Lung Association of Texas - Houston & Southeast Region's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Awards and Honors

Foreign Awards and Decorations

Selected Professional Organizations

The Houston Academy of Medicine John P. McGovern Compleat Physician Award

In 1993, the Houston Academy of Medicine inaugurated a special annual award named the Houston Academy of Medicine John P. McGovern Compleat Physician Award. The Award recognizes a physician who embodies exemplary service to humanity, one whose career reflects a foundation on the Oslerian ideals: medical excellence, humane and ethical care, commitment to the medical humanities and writing, research, and harmony between the academician and the medical practitioner.

In his presentation of the Houston Academy of Medicine John P. McGovern Compleat Physician Award, Dr. Clarence P. Alfrey described Dr. McGovern as a "Renaissance Man in the truest sense of the word." He drew attention to Dr. McGovern's vision and energy, noting that he had "rekindled the Osler flame locally, nationally, and internationally. It is the embodiment of the tradition of Sir William Osler through service that is recognized with this award, as Osler epitomized the harmonious union of science, the humanities, and the art of medicine." That Dr. McGovern exhibited these unique qualities made him the unanimous selection as the Award’s first recipient and namesake.

Philanthropy

The criteria for the McGovern Award includes a humanitarian perspective and Dr. McGovern's generous philanthropy long reflected this. One recipient of this generosity was his alma mater, Duke University. In November of 1998, he donated a 6.5 million dollar gift to the Duke University Medical Center to help build a new children's health center. The McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center is named for Dr. McGovern and Dr. Wilburt Cornell Davison (1892-1972), his mentor and long-time friend. Dr. Davison was a pediatrician and the first dean of Duke's School of Medicine.

For over 20 years, Dr. McGovern served as the honorary curator of rare books for the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library. He donated his extensive rare book collection to the Library's History of Medicine Section of Special Collections in 1982. Photographs taken at the event celebrating this donation are available here. In 1996, the Library's Special Collection was renamed in his honor, The John P. McGovern Historical Collections & Research Center.

Awards Honors, Professorships and Facilities named for Dr. McGovern

Curriculum Vitae

John Phillip McGovern, M.D.
Founder-Retired, McGovern Allergy Asthma Clinic
President, John P. McGovern Foundation
President, McGovern Fund

Birth: June 2, 1921
Death: May 31, 2007

Married: Kathrine Dunbar Galbreath