June 18, 2004

Portrait of former MGH president unveiled

The likeness of former MGH president and former CEO of Partners, Samuel O. Thier, MD, now graces the reception area outside of the Trustees Room on Bulfinch 2. The portrait was unveiled at a ceremony June 9 with artists Warren and Lucia Prosperi on hand.

Thier first came to the MGH in the 1960s as an intern, later becoming chief medical resident and then director of the Renal Unit. After he left the hospital, he held positions at prestigious institutions such as Yale University School of Medicine, the Institute of Medicine and Brandeis University. He came back to the MGH in 1994 to take the reins as president and then became president and CEO of Partners in 1995. After stepping down from that position in 2002, he has returned to his roots as an academic physician here at the MGH and continues to be involved with national health care policy matters. Peter L. Slavin, MD, current president of the MGH, and James J. Mongan, MD, current president and CEO of Partners, offered praise and gratitude to Thier for his extraordinary contributions to the MGH and Partners, and they shared anecdotes of working with him through the years.

From left, Edward Lawrence, chairman of the MGH Board of Trustees, Thier, and Ferdinand Colloredo-Mansfeld, honorary trustee.

"It was 44 years ago this month when I first came to the MGH as an intern," said Thier. "I discovered then what an incredible place this is. The standards and traditions found here I have not seen anywhere else. It is good to be back home."