Robert B. Rutherford 29 July 1931–22 November 2013

Bob Rutherford, for more than three decades, was arguably the best known and most respected vascular surgeon in the world. His textbook, VASCULAR SURGERY, has been “the textbook” and remains the premier source of information in the field since it first appeared in 1976. Since then, Rutherford's text gained in authority and respect as it went through its subsequent eight editions, just as vascular surgery grew and morphed into the defined specialty it is today. In 1996, Bob received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons and he delivered the prestigious Lister Lecture in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2005, Bob received the singular honor of the SVS Lifetime Achievement Award and, in 2006, he received the Julius H. Jacobson II Physician Excellence Award from the Vascular Disease Foundation for his exceptional leadership and contributions to vascular disease education and management.