History

1988: W. Steves Ring, M.D. was recruited as Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery, still a part of the Department of Surgery. One of his main goals was to expand the clinical practice to coincide with the opening of UT Southwestern University Hospital-Zale Lipshy the next year.

1989: The UT Southwestern Heart Transplant Program was begun at St. Paul Medical Center and Children's Medical Center.

1990: The Lung Transplant Program was launched at St. Paul.

1996: UT Southwestern took over leadership of the Thoracic Transplant Program at Baylor University Medical Center.

1997: The Cardiac Surgery Programs at Parkland Memorial Hospital and University Hospital-Zale Lipshy were merged into a single program at University Hospital-Zale Lipshy, now Zale Lipshy University Hospital, and moved to University Hospital-St. Paul, now St. Paul University Hospital, in 2001.

2000: The Division of Thoracic Surgery became the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery.

2010: Dr. Ring stepped down after 22 years as Chair, and Michael Jessen, M.D., was appointed as his successor.