Hardy, James D. (1918–2003)

James D. Hardy was an American surgeon who pioneered transplant operations with three landmark cases: the first human lung transplant in 1963; the first animal-to-human heart transplant in 1964, which caused a heated debate on its ethical and moral consequences; and a double-lung transplant leaving the heart in place in 1987.

Hardy was born on May 14, 1918, the son of a lime plant owner. He grew up in Alabama where he started his premedical studies at the University [Page 775]of Alabama. As that university only had two-year medical programs, Hardy transferred to the University of Pennsylvania where he received the M.D. in 1942. He completed his internship and residence in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he became convinced of the importance of combining research and clinical practice. During World War II, Hardy worked in the 81st field hospital in Germany, where he decided to switch from medicine to surgery.

After the war, Hardy again joined the University of Pennsylvania where he received a Damon Runyon Clinical Research Fellowship to study the use of heavy water in the measurement of body fluids. This research earned Hardy the Master of Medical Science in physiological chemistry from the university in 1951. That same year, Hardy moved back to his native South becoming Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Tennessee at Memphis and Director of Surgical Research. In 1953, Hardy was appointed Chair of Surgery. Two years later, the university started a four-year medical school in Jackson, and Hardy became the first Chair of Surgery in the new center.

He held this position until 1987 and it was in this capacity that he performed the transplant operations that would make him famous throughout the world. The most controversial of Hardy's transplant was by far the chimpanzee-to-man heart transplant performed in 1964. The operation attracted criticism also from some of Hardy's colleagues. In the long run, Hardy's animal-to-human transplant helped to establish a more secularized vision of the human body rather than the recipient of a man's soul. During his long career, Hardy authored several books on surgery, served as editor in chief of academic surgery journals, and was a member of important surgery associations. He was also the 12th recipient of the prestigious Rudolph Matas Award in Cardiovascular Surgery.