Henry N. Harkins Endowed Chair in Surgery

Est. 1986

The Henry N. Harkins Endowed Chair in Surgery was created in 1986. The endowment pays tribute to Dr. Harkins while providing support for UW Medicine’s Department of Surgery.

Henry A. Harkins, who was born in Missoula, Mont., graduated from Rush Medical College in Chicago and received his Ph.D. in medicine from the University of Chicago. He was an associate surgeon at the Henry Ford Hospital, an instructor in surgery at Wayne State University and an associate professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University before coming to the University of Washington. Dr. Harkins played a significant role in building an outstanding Department of Surgery at UW Medicine and served as the department’s chair from 1947 to 1964.

Dr. Harkins published more than 350 articles on numerous surgical subjects and was the founding co-editor of Surgery: Principles and Practice, which emphasized the scientific basis of surgery. He was twice a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellow in Surgery and conducted surgical research at medical centers around the world. He passed away in 1967.

Henry Harkins was the epitome of the academic surgeon: a spirited teacher, an outstanding investigator, a scholar of the highest order, and an important contributor to the world of medicine.

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