Basil Isaac Hirschowitz, MD*

Basil Isaac Hirschowitz was born in Bethal, South Africa, in 1925, and received an M.D. from Witwatersrand University Medical School. Dr. Hirschowitz’s first assignment in the U.S. was as an instructor and research associate at the University of Michigan. Joining the University of Alabama School of Medicine in 1959, he subsequently served in many responsible positions including Professor of Medicine, Physiology, and Biophysics. Dr. Hirschowitz is author of, individually or with associates, some three hundred scientific papers. The first flexible Fiberoptic Endoscope, which revolutionized its specialty area, was devised by Dr. Hirschowitz and associates.

Among his many awards, Dr. Hirschowitz received the Schindler Medal, the General Motors Kettering Prize, the UAB Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Science of Medicine. The Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame honors Dr.Basil Hirschowitz for reaching the pinnacle of academic medicine as a teacher, scientist, and clinician.