For Joseph Cleveland Jr., MD, being named the inaugural chairholder of the David A. Fullerton, MD, Endowed Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery is doubly rewarding.
The appointment recognizes Cleveland’s research and clinical acumen, but it also pays tribute to one of his earliest mentors in the University of Colorado Department of Surgery.
“Dave Fullerton was one of the first two people I met all the way back in 1991, when I interviewed as a fourth-year medical student for a surgery residency spot,” says Cleveland, professor of cardiothoracic surgery. “Our relationship started with him becoming a very strong mentor for me in my first couple of years and molding me as a very young trainee.”
Fullerton also began his CU surgery career as a resident, remaining as a faculty member for six years after completing his training in cardiothoracic surgery in 1990. As a faculty member, he started the pediatric heart transplant program alongside David Campbell, MD, and revitalized the lung transplant program with Frederick Grover, MD.
In 1996, Fullerton went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he served as chief of cardiothoracic surgery. In 2003, he returned to CU, also as chief of cardiothoracic surgery, and remained until his retirement in June 2024.
Fullerton died in December 2024, but before his passing, he and his wife, Christine (Farrington) Fullerton, created the Fullerton endowed chair to assist with research expenditures, conference participation, curriculum development and more, with a special focus on mentorship.
“Throughout his career, David carried forward the legacy of mentorship,” Christine Fullerton says. “His endowed chair stands as a testament to the many lives he’s touched. He was a natural educator, always enthusiastic about cardiac surgery — he described it as ‘fun, fun, fun’ — and eager to share that passion with others. His lab was an open door to anyone who showed curiosity and commitment.”
For Cleveland, who remained at CU as a faculty member after his residency, the endowed chair is “an incredible honor, and one that is humbling,” he says, but it also comes with a sense of responsibility to carry Fullerton’s legacy forward.
“Dave and I, together with our entire Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, which grew from four or five surgeons to 14 under his leadership, wanted to create a strong culture of mentorship, from students all the way from residents, fellows, and faculty,” he says. “It’s a legacy of education and investigational research to better the specialty.”
Cleveland has long been engaged in research of catheter-based technologies for cardiac surgery; he also helped develop CU’s robotic cardiac surgery program.
“Those are the areas of research we will continue to push forward — implementing new therapies, novel innovation therapies, and a robotic program that will offer patients access to treatments that are tried and true and been successful for 40-50 years, but without the same level of invasion,” he says. “We want to get away from big open incisions and try to get things done through smaller incisions.”
As he steps into his new endowed chair, Cleveland has Fullerton’s passion and dedication to the field at the top of his mind.
“Now I’m thinking about, how can I ensure that the division that Dave loved and led for 20 years can continue to grow and change as it should and adapt to the changes in our profession, yet remain committed to its core values of taking excellent care of patients, teaching, and pushing the field further with research?”