Peter Vincent Moulder, Jr. 1921 - 2010

Peter Vincent Moulder, Jr. was born January 26, 1921. He died May 10, 2010, at age 89. Dr. Moulder was known as Pete to his residents and colleagues, even when familiarity between layers of the surgical hierarchy was uncommon.

He earned his B.S. degree magna cum laude at Notre Dame University in 1942, and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha at the University of Chicago (U of C) where he received his M.D. degree with honors in 1945. From 1953-1954 he was the 14th U of C Chief Resident and Instructor in the tradition of Dallas B Phemister, the founding chairman of the Department of Surgery. He progressed rapidly to the rank of professor, and he was an extraordinarily effective teacher, a dedicated and effective researcher, and a charismatic mentor. Pete was the founder of modern cardiac surgery at U of C during the earliest years of extracorporeal circulation. Many of us are enormously indebted to him for his contribution to our education.

In 1968 Pete became Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1972 he was recruited to the University of Florida in Gainesville. He served the remainder of his career as Professor of Surgery, first at Tulane University and then at Louisiana State University. After his retirement from clinical surgery until shortly before his death, he maintained an active, funded research laboratory studying cardiac physiology.

Peter V. Moulder, Jr. published 275 peer reviewed article and served with distinction on numerous editorial boards. In 1965 Notre Dame University chose him to receive its Centennial Honor Scientific Award. At the height of the Cold War he was awarded the Alexander Vishnevsky Medal of the USSR.

The highlights of Peter Moulder’s personal life were love of his family and his faith in God. His wife Jane now lives on Pawley’s Island, South Carolina. Their 4 children and 7 grandchildren carry their tradition forward.

John R. Benfield, MD
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA 
Los Angeles, CA United States