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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient C. Everett Koop
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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient C. Everett Koop
Koop Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom
9/29/1995
Copyright 1995 Chicago Tribune Company
September 29, 1995 Friday
HEADLINE: CLINTON AWARDS 12 CIVILIANS HIGHEST MEDAL OF HONOR
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
President Clinton Friday awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 12 people, including former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, declaring them a symbol of "the true face of American heroism."
The nation's highest civilian honor also went to two advocates of children's television, Peggy Charren and Joan Ganz Cooney.
Cooney is founder of the Children's Television Workshop and "Sesame Street." Charren founded Action for Children's Television to fight TV violence.
The white-bearded Koop, a pediatric surgeon, was known as a conservative opponent of abortion when appointed surgeon general in 1981 by President Reagan.
Koop's voice was one of the first against the erupting AIDS epidemic, urging the use of condoms.
Posthumous awards went to Walter P. Reuther, the outspoken United Auto Workers president who crusaded against communism, corruption and racism, and Willie Velasquez, founder of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, whose advocacy helped to nearly double the number of Latino elected officials nationwide.
Other honorees were William T. Coleman Jr., former transportation secretary and chairman of the board of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, for efforts to ensure equal opportunity; John Hope Franklin, a black historian, for his work highlighting the history of the South and the roles of black Americans in the nation's development; U.S. Court of Appeals Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., civil rights attorney and professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, for his commitment to equal and civil rights; U.S. District Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr., who ruled in 1956 that the segregated bus system in Montgomery, Ala., was unconstitutional, for his efforts to dismantle segregation and protect the rights of prisoners and mentally ill people; former Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-Wis.), creator of Earth Day, for his environmental activism; urban designer James W. Rouse, whose designs have helped revitalize inner cities; and Lew R. Wasserman, a Hollywood studio executive, for his contributions and advocacy on behalf of the blind and visually impaired.
GRAPHIC: PHOTOPHOTO (color): Hillary Rodham Clinton and President Clinton congratulate former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop after an awards ceremony Friday. AP photo.
Dr. C. Everett Koop was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 14, 1916.
He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1937 and received his M.D. degree from Cornell Medical College in 1941.
After serving an internship at the Pennsylvania Hospital, he pursued postgraduate training at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the Boston Children's Hospital, and the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received the degree of Doctor of Science (Medicine) in 1947.
After a series of promotions, he was named Professor of Pediatric Surgery at the School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania in 1959, and later Professor of Pediatrics in 1971. He is presently the Elizabeth DeCamp McInerny Professor at Dartmouth.
An internationally respected pediatric surgeon, Dr. Koop became Surgeon-in-Chief of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in 1948 and served in that capacity until he left the academic world in 1981. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery from 1964-1976.
Dr. Koop was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) in March 1981 and was sworn in as the U.S. Surgeon General on November 17, 1981. He was also appointed Director of the Office of International Health in May 1982. As Surgeon General, Dr. Koop oversaw the activities of the 6,000 member PHS Commissioned Corps and advised the public on a variety of health matters: smoking and health, diet and nutrition, environmental health hazards, and the importance of immunization and disease prevention. He also became the government's chief spokesman on AIDS. He resigned as Surgeon General on October 1, 1989 and continues to be a force for public health and health education through his writings, electronic media, public appearances, personal contacts, and as Senior Scholar of the C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth.
Dr. Koop is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including 35 honorary doctorates.
Dr. Koop was awarded the Denis Brown Gold Medal by the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons; the William E. Ladd Gold Medal of the American Academy of Pediatrics in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of pediatric surgery; the Order of the Duarte, Sanchez, and Mella (the highest award of the Dominican Republic) for his achievement in separating the conjoined Dominican twins; and a number of other awards from civic, religious, medical and philanthropic organizations. He was awarded the Medal of the Legion of Honor by the government of France in 1980, was inducted into the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1982 as well as the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 1987. In May 1983, Dr. Koop was awarded the Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal in recognition of his extraordinary leadership of the U.S. Public Health Service. After his retirement, he was presented with the Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Medal and the Surgeon General's Medallion. In September of 1995, President Clinton presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom , the nation's highest civilian award.
Dr. Koop is a prominent member of numerous professional societies and organizations.
Dr. Koop is a member of the American Surgical Association, the Society of University Surgeons, the American Pediatric Surgical Association, the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Philosophical Society, and a number of other professional societies in the U.S. and abroad. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and a member of the American College of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Koop is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Museum of Health and Medicine Foundation, Chairman of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, Honorary Chairman of The Health Project, a Director of the Biopure Corporation and Chairman of its Scientific Advisory Board. He is on the Board of Directors of the National HealthNetwork, the Foundation for Biomedical Research, A.D.A.M. Software, Inc., and is an advisor to Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. and International Aid Inc. He serves as an international advisor to AIDS Care Education and Training (United Kingdom) and is a member of the National Advisory Boards of the International Health and Medical Film Festival, Inc., and the Texas Heart Institute.
Dr. Koop is also a prolific author.
He has written more than 200 articles and books on the practice of medicine and surgery, biomedical ethics, and health policy. In 1991 he was given an Emmy Award in the News and Documentary category for C. Everett Koop, M.D., a five part series on health care reform. Two of the shows in this series were awarded Freddies in 1992: Best Film in the Category of Aging for Forever Young and Best Film in the Category of Family Dynamics for Listening to Teenagers.
Dr. Koop and his wife Elizabeth have three living children - Allen, Norman, and Elizabeth Thompson - and seven grandchildren.
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Medal History
