J. Randall Curtis: Remembering a Colleague, a Mentor, a Role Model, and a Friend

The ATS is much more than a medical specialty society – it is a community, a family of health care professionals dedicated to making the world a better place by helping people do the most basic of things … breathe. On Monday, Feb. 6, our family lost one of our dearest members, Randy Curtis.

In many ways, Randy personified the ATS. He was selfless, constantly giving of his time and energy to help others learn and grow, having mentored 22 current and former fellows and faculty, 15 residents, and seven other health professionals. He was an outside-the-box thinker, and his work in palliative care had an enormous, far-reaching impact on patients and their families. He was brave, never shying away from discussing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the disease that would take his life, instead choosing to use it as the ultimate teachable moment.

Randy was ATS president from 2009-2010. He was the recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Clinician Award and is the 2023 winner of the Edward Livingston Trudeau Award, which will be awarded posthumously at ATS 2023.

In recognition of Randy’s contributions to the ATS this year we established an award in his honor, the J. Randall Curtis Humanism Award. It recognizes and celebrates individuals whose work reflects the ideals espoused by Randy throughout his career of compassion, humanism, and mentorship. The inaugural recipient will be recognized at the conference.

He leaves behind a legion of mentees, collaborators, and peers, all of whom have benefitted from his tutelage. As past presidents of the Society, we will miss his wisdom, humor, and tireless commitment to the respiratory community. Most especially, we will miss his unwavering friendship.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and daughter during this difficult time.