BIOGRAPHY Ralph D. Feigin, MD: Chairman of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, Physician-in-Chief of Texas Children’s Hospital, and Editor-in-Chief of Seminars in Pediatric Infectious Diseases B. Lee Ligon, PhD I n 1977, a young, respected pediatrician and infectious diseases specialist was called to lead the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and to assume the accompanying position of Physician-in-Chief of Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH), Houston, Texas. The challenge set before him of filling the shoes of the only individual to have held these positions previously, Dr. Russell Blattner, was a daunting one that might have intimidated a less deter- mined physician. Blattner had held these posts for the previ- ous 30 years, and one of the first teaching hospitals for pedi- atricians had been created under his watch. Instead, the young physician saw an opportunity to affect the health care of children and to make significant strides in research on infectious diseases and other ailments. He accepted the chal- lenge. Today, that same person, Dr. Ralph D. Feigin (Fig. 1), is still at the helm after more than 29 years, has served BCM for 7 years as President and CEO while retaining the position of Chairman of Pediatrics, and has developed the BCM De- partment of Pediatrics and TCH far beyond even the broadest dreams of those who first saw in him the capabilities needed to lead these institutions into the future. Indeed, in 2003, BCM ranked third among the top 100 federally funded U.S. universities in contributing the greatest number of papers to the field of pediatrics during the previous 5 years. In 2006, TCH was named among the top-five pediatric hospitals in the nation in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey. In addition to being coeditor of two major pediatrics textbooks and Associate Editor of Pediatrics, Dr. Feigin has been Editor-in-Chief of this publication for the past 17 years. With this final issue, it seemed fitting to devote the Biography, unbeknownst to him, to highlighting some of Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. Address reprint requests to B. Lee Ligon, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, 6621 Fannin, A-150, Houston, TX 77030. E-mail: bligon@bcm.tmc.edu Figure 1 Ralph D. Feigin, MD. 213 1045-1870/06/$-see front matter © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1053/j.spid.2006.08.009