What’s in a name?

Transforming an entire field of medicine, receiving one of the nation’s highest military honors and earning the respect of colleagues around the world. Any one of these feats would top most resumes and symbolize the pinnacle of achievement in one’s life and career.

For Szabolcs Szentpetery, M.D., H’75, the true measure of his contribution wasn’t tied to recognition or his numerous personal accomplishments. It was the opportunity to pursue deep and consequential service, making him a role model for others.

“When he became a full professor at VCU, it was his dream come true,” says Eva Smith, M.D., H’16, Szentpetery’s daughter and a cardiac anesthesiologist at CaroMont Regional Medical Center near Charlotte, North Carolina. “Among all of his professional highlights, in his mind being named a full professor, and at the place he loved so much, was the highest achievement.”

Szentpetery, a celebrated surgeon who was a mainstay on the MCV Campus for more than 20 years, died in November 2023, at age 84. To honor his legacy, his family established the Szabolcs Szentpetery Professorship, an endowment that will support a faculty member in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery as they champion research, teaching and patient care.

From Budapest to Richmond to the world

Vigneshwar Kasirajan, M.D., the Stuart McGuire Chair in the VCU Department of Surgery, says the Szentpetery family’s generous gift will advance cardiac surgery at VCU Health Pauley Heart Center while simultaneously celebrating the brilliant, soft-spoken colleague who Kasirajan called by the nickname “Pete.” 

“I cannot overstate Pete’s contribution to both VCU and the world,” Kasirajan says. “During his decades-long career, Pete trained hundreds of surgeons, established two separate heart transplant programs in Virginia, and was involved in nearly every major development in cardiac surgery for a generation.” 

Learning to problem-solve and adapt were skills that Szentpetery was forced to develop early in life. Born in Hungary during World War II, he sought political asylum in Germany before coming to the United States to train in cardiothoracic surgery under the guidance of transplant pioneers David Hume, M.D., and Richard Lower, M.D.

During his training he was drafted into the Vietnam War, where he was awarded the Bronze Star for his care of wounded American and South Vietnamese soldiers in hospitals near the Cambodian border.

Throughout his long career, Szentpetery – who was the first to hold the Richard Lower Professorship in Cardiac Surgery – was regarded as a master surgeon, dedicated mentor and voracious learner. From an early age the native-Hungarian speaker became fluent in both Latin and Greek, read Shakespeare in English, and enjoyed debating philosophical questions of morality with the other members of his swim team.

In 1977, as part of what is known today as VCU Health Hume-Lee Transplant Center, he made history by performing the world’s first long-distance transplant of a human heart, traveling from Richmond to Indianapolis and back to perform the surgery. 

Later in his career, he established heart transplant programs at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and the Richmond Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where his patients affectionately played off his last name to coin a second nickname, “Saint Pete.”

Two of Szentpetery’s three daughters became doctors, following in their parents’ footsteps. Their mother, Victoria Szentpetery, M.D., also earned a medical degree, but didn’t practice medicine, choosing instead to devote herself to raising a family. 

Sylvia Szentpetery, M.D., a pulmonologist who leads the pediatric cystic fibrosis program at the Medical University of South Carolina, remembers her father as a kind-hearted person who treated every personal interaction with dignity and honor.

“Throughout his life he saw how difficult and challenging the world can be, so his primary motivation was that he wanted to help people, to really dedicate himself to making the best decision he could in service to his patients, students and colleagues,” says Sylvia Szentpetery, adding that, despite working long hours, he brought the same philosophy to his family life.

In recent years, his daughters delighted in seeing their father earn yet another nickname. This time as a devoted grandfather who was known as “Papa.”

“To watch him with my kids was a special joy,” Smith says. “He always had one of the children on his lap if we’d go out to dinner.”

A heart for service

Reflecting on the future opportunity that’s been created by their family’s philanthropic gift, Sylvia Szentpetery hopes the professorship is held by someone with a heart for service.

“Cardiothoracic surgery is a very stressful job, but my dad was able to maintain a kind and calm demeanor because of his focus on service for others,” she says.

Smith, who is a fixture in operating rooms similar to those in which her father worked, stressed the importance of being a team player.

“My dad made friends with everyone, and he didn’t put himself above anyone,” she says. “He was respectful to the nurses and always thanked them. His kindness to others was what made him special.”

For Kasirajan, those descriptions sound about right.

“Pete was an innovator and someone who wanted to be – and was – at the forefront of new knowledge,” Kasirajan says. “He was perhaps the most gifted cardiothoracic surgeon I’ve ever seen operating, and we’re indebted to him forever for the legacy he leaves with us.”

To support the Szabolcs Szentpetery Professorship, make a gift online, or contact Justin Jannuzzi, director of development, at jannuzzijp@vcu.edu or (804) 628-8905.

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The School of Medicine communications team is always looking to highlight student success, faculty achievement, cutting-edge research and innovative initiatives around the MCV Campus. If you have an idea for a story, please submit your pitch to laura.ingles@vcuhealth.org.