J. Willis Hurst papers

J. Willis Hurst, MD (1920-2011), cardiologist, professor of medicine, and writer. The only child of John and Verna Bell Hurst, John Willis Hurst was born in Cooper, Kentucky on October 21, 1920. When he was eleven months old, the family moved to Carroll County, Georgia where his father became principal of a small school. Hurst entered West Georgia College in Carrollton at age 16. After two years in the college, he transferred to the University of Georgia where he graduated with a B.Sc. in chemistry and zoology. He entered the Medical College of Georgia in 1941 and graduated first in his class in 1944.

In 1948, after internship and residency training in Augusta, Georgia and two years in the Army at Fitzsimmons General Hospital, Dr. Hurst became a cardiac fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital under Dr. Paul Dudley White. After completion of the fellowship, he first established a private practice in Atlanta, Georgia in 1949, then, in 1950, accepted an offer to join the faculty of Emory University. He was briefly recalled to military service in 1954 and assigned to the U. S. Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland where he was appointed Chief of Cardiology. When Lyndon Johnson, then majority leader of the Senate, suffered a heart attack July 2, 1955, Dr. Hurst became his cardiologist and remained in that role until Johnson’s death in 1973.

After his discharge from military service in 1955, Hurst returned to Emory where he resumed teaching and practicing consultative cardiology. In 1957, at the age of 36, he was named Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Emory, a position he held until 1986. He continued to teach after stepping down from that position. In 1991, Dr. Hurst was named as a consultant to the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, at Emory and continued in this role until 2007.

Over the span of his career, Hurst edited over 60 books and authored over 350 scientific articles. Of special note are the books The Heart, which he created and edited for seven editions; Medicine for the Practicing Physician, which he created and edited for four editions; and The Quest for Excellence: the history of the Department of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, 1834-1986 which he authored in 1997.

Dr. Hurst passed away on October 1, 2011 at the age of 90. He was preceded in death by Nelie Hurst, his wife of 61 years. He is survived by three sons, John, Steve and Phil, and their extended families.