Basil Isaac Hirschowitz - May 29, 1925,

Basil Isaac Hirschowitz 

May 29, 1925

Basil Isaac Hirschowitz (*May 29, 1925, Bethal, South Africa) is an academic gastroenterologist from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) best known in the field for having invented an improved optical Fiber which allowed the creation of a useful flexible endoscope. This invention revolutionized the practice of gastroenterology and also was a key invention in optical fiber communication in multiple industries.

Hirschowitz received his medical education at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. It was from this institution that he earned M.B. and B.Ch. degrees in 1947. He received Postdoctoral training from University of the Witwatersrand, earning an M.D. degree.

In 1953 he moved to the United States, where he continued his gastrointestinal fellowship at the University of Michigan and joined the faculty between 1954 and 1957. Hirschowitz became a naturalized citizen of the USA in 1961.

Among his many awards, Basil Hirschowitz received the Schindler Medal of the ASGE, the Friedenwald Medal of the AGA (1992), the General Motors Cancer Research Awards Kettering Prize (1987), the UAB Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Science of Medicine. The Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame honors Dr. Basil Hirschowitz for reaching the pinnacle of academic medicine as a teacher, scientist, and clinician. In 2006 he became M.D.h.c (Honorary Doctor of Medicine) at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Groll-Hirschowitz syndrome — a rare genetic condition characterized by gastrointestinal abnormalities, deafness and neuropathy. It is named in honour of B. Hirschowitz and A. Groll, for the first time its described.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Hirschowitz