James S. T. Yao, MD, PhD, completed a rotating internship at Cook County Hospital in 1961–62 and stayed on for General Surgical Residency training from 1962 to 1967. He then went to St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School to further his training in vascular surgery. At the same time, he received a Ph.D. in vascular physiology from the University of London. He returned to Chicago in 1973 and joined the staff as Attending Surgeon at Wesley Memorial Hospital (Now NMH) and on the faculty of Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. He was appointed Magerstadt Professor of Surgery in 1985 and served as Chief of Division of Vascular Surgery from 1988 to 1997 and Chairman of Department of Surgery 1997 to 2000. After 35 years of service, Dr. Yao is now retired as an Emeritus Professor of Surgery at Northwestern.