Biography

The medical community has lost a giant. Dr. Maurice Lev has taught innumerable cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, and medical students for several decades through his unique teachings with heart specimens, especially at the annual American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association meetings.

Dr. Lev was born November 13, 1908, in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Russian immigrants, and was raised by his grandfather to become a rabbi. He obtained his B.S. degree from New York University in 1930, graduated from Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, in 1934, and did his residency in pathology at Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. He served in the army during World War II, and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1946. He worked at the University of Illinois and later at Mount Sinai Hospital, Miami Beach, Florida. He was Director of the Congenital Heart Disease Research and Training Center at Hektoen Institute, Chicago, Illinois from 1957 to 1982. During this time he taught at all six medical schools and practically all the hospitals in Chicago; he was professor of pathology at all the medical schools. Dr. Lev was the Director of the Clinical Laboratories at Deborah Heart and Lung Center, Browns Mills, New Jersey, from November 1982 to March 1988.

Dr. Lev's pioneering contributions in pathology of congenital heart disease and the conduction system of the heart has helped not only the cardiac surgeons but also the pediatric and adult cardiologists in the understanding and management of congenital cardiac malformations and various types of arrhythmias. He authored or coauthored several books, two of them published in the last 3 to 4 years, and published more than 500 articles.

Since 1988, until the very end, he was the Associate Director of the Congenital Heart and Conduction System Center, Heart Institute for Children, Christ Hospital and Medical Center, Oak Lawn, Illinois and Professor of Pathology, Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois. He worked 7 days a week; his philosophy of life was to work and to teach. At the age of 58, he earned a Master's degree in Philosophy. He was admired and loved by all. He received honors and awards from practically all cardiovascular societies for his teachings and research. His monumental contributions will remain a guiding light to serious students in cardiovascular medicine. Thank you Dr. Lev.

- Saroja Bharati, M.D.
  The Congenital Heart and Conduction System Center
  Palos Heights, Illinois