Samuel kountz biography

Samuel Lee Kountz Jr. (October 30, 1930 – December 23, 1981) was an.
Samuel Lee Kountz was a physician and pioneer in organ transplantation, particularly renal transplant research and surgery.
Renowned surgeon and pioneer in organ transplants, Samuel Lee Kountz was born on August 20, 1930 to Samuel Kountz, Sr. and Emma Montague in Lexa, Arkansas.

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Brought to Light

In honor of Black History Month, we’re recognizing Dr. Samuel Kountz, pioneering kidney transplant surgeon.

Samuel Kountz, MD (1930-1981) was born in Lexa, Arkansas and attended the Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas Medical School. He received surgical training at Stanford Medical Center and later became a faculty member at Stanford.

In 1967, Kountz joined the UCSF faculty and became head of the Kidney Transplant Service. During his time at UCSF, Kountz performed numerous kidney transplant surgeries, discovered more effective drug techniques, and advocated for increased organ donations and funding for transplant surgery research. Additionally, Kountz and his colleague, Dr. Folkert Belzer, developed a perfusion preservation machine that allowed organs to remain viable for much longer than previously possible, a major development in the field. Under Kountz’s leadership, the Kidney Transplant Service at UCSF became one of the most respected programs in the world.

Kountz worked to increase diversity on campu

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Dr. Samuel L. Kountz

UAMS Alumnus and Pioneering Transplantation Surgeon

Timothy G. Nutt

Of the hundreds of prominent graduates of the UAMS College of Medicine in its nearly 150-year history, Dr. Samuel Lee Kountz stands out for his work as a pioneering kidney transplantation surgeon. Born in the Mississippi Delta, Kountz grew up during the Jim Crow era of segregation. Despite this, Kountz became one of the world’s most respected physicians before his untimely illness and death.

Kountz was born in the small Southeast Arkansas town of Lexa (Phillips County) in 1930, the eldest son of Rev. J. S. and Susie Kountz, a Baptist preacher and farmer, and a midwife, respectively. Kountz attended a one-room segregated school in Lexa and, for a brief time, boarded at a Baptist school in the town. Ultimately, he graduated from Morris Booker High School in nearby Dermott (Desha County) in 1948. That same year, he applied to Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical, and Normal College (AM&N; now University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff), but he failed the entrance examination. AM&N P

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Topic | Dr. Samuel Lee Kountz

Dr. Samuel Lee Kountz, born in 1930 in Lexa, Arkansas, was a determined and intellectual man. Prior to entering college at the University of Arkansas AM& N, Kountz experienced academic adversity during his high school years, but that did not deter him from becoming a successfully respected clinician, researcher and professor later in his life. In 1952, Dr Kountz entered the University of Arkansas where he received a Bachelors of Science, majoring in pre-med with a minor in mathematics. Kountz finished his undergraduate degree third in his class out of 178 students. Dr. Kountz achievements were not limited to within the classroom. He excelled as a leader in many extracurricular activities such as Student Government where he was the Vice President as a member of the debate team and as part of the Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society, to name a few.

Dr. Kountz was determined to become a great doctor. Even after he was denied from the two black medical schools in the nation, he did not give up. Instead, Dr. Kountz went on to receive his M.S. i