A birthday celebration for John S. Fordtran, MD.

O n November 15, 2011, a celebration was held for John S. Fordtran, MD (Figure 1), on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Th e event was initially suggested by Dr. Fordtran’s long-time colleague, Guenter Krejs, MD, who traveled to Dallas from Austria for the event. He was assisted by Charles Richardson, MD, and C. Richard Boland, MD. The celebration began on the evening of November 14, with a dinner party held at the elegant Aldredge House on Swiss Avenue in Dallas for the out-oftown guests and some of John’s colleagues from his early academic career in Dallas. John’s career was recounted by a gathering of out-of-town guests and by his academic colleagues from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas (UTSW) (Figures 2–4). Among those present who provided reminiscences was Marvin H. Sleisenger, MD, Dr. Fordtran’s collaborator with the classic textbook Gastrointestinal Disease. Dr. Sleisenger traveled from San Francisco and was still spry and engaging at the age of 88. Other guests in attendance who spoke about John’s impact on their profession were his prior gastroenterology fellow, Michael Brown, MD, who won the Nobel Prize in