December 13, 2002

A professorship at Harvard Medical School has been established as a tribute to the accomplishments of Samuel O. Thier, MD, president and CEO of Partners HealthCare. The chair, announced at a dinner held Dec. 4 to honor Thier's leadership, recognizes his many contributions in academic medicine and national health care policy.

More than 600 guests from throughout Partners and the Greater Boston health care community gathered at the dinner. Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a special surprise speaker, praised the role Thier has played in the successful national effort to restore Medicare funding for hospitals, which had been cut by the Balanced Budget Act.

Other guest speakers recognized Thier for guiding Partners to its current position as one of the nation's leading health care networks and, in the process, returning three vital community hospitals to stability, expanding needed mental health services and increasing services for low-income patients.   

From left, Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers, Thier and Kennedy