“Naming the professorship in honor of the Nabel family is a tribute to Betsy’s legacy as a champion of outstanding medical education, research, and care.” —JOHN FISH

As Betsy Nabel, MD, concluded her 11-year tenure as president of the Brigham last year, she and the Brigham Board of Trustees reflected on the past while looking to the future.

To sustain the Brigham for continued excellence and growth, Betsy Nabel, MD, and her husband, Gary Nabel, MD, PhD, contributed $1 million to the hospital. They were joined by several members of the Board of Trustees who gave to establish the Elizabeth G. and Gary J. Nabel Family Professorship in Medicine. Supporters included Marc and Alison Casper, Anne Finucane and Mike Barnicle, Cynthia and John F. Fish, Karen and Rob Hale, Judith and Steven M. Kaye, Joshua M. Kraft, Susan P. Stickells and Albert A. Holman III, James D. and Carol D. Taiclet, and Anne Thorndike, MD, MPH, and Lanny Thorndike.

“Betsy’s leadership expanded the Brigham’s stature as a premiere academic medical institution,” says John Fish, chair of the Board of Trustees. “Naming the professorship in honor of the Nabel family is a tribute to Betsy’s legacy as a champion of outstanding medical education, research, and care.”

The inaugural incumbent of the professorship will be Robert S.D. Higgins, MD, MSHA, who started in December 2021 as the Brigham’s new president and an executive vice president of Mass General Brigham (MGB). At an upcoming ceremony, the Brigham community will celebrate Higgins’ appointment to the endowed professorship, which is the highest honor Harvard Medical School can bestow on a faculty member at one of the school’s affiliated institutions.

“It’s an honor to build and expand on the great work of my predecessor, Dr. Betsy Nabel, and to be the first incumbent of this esteemed professorship that bears her family’s name,” says Higgins. “Betsy left an indelible mark on the Brigham, and as the steward of this generous gift, I will ensure these resources advance our clinical and research enterprise.”

This endowed professorship, which stands in perpetuity, will generate support for the incumbent and the Brigham while cultivating remarkable scholarship and leadership.

“By creating this professorship honoring the Brigham president in perpetuity, it’s our collective hope the institution continues to grow better every day,” says Betsy Nabel. “No doubt, Dr. Higgins will make a far-reaching impact and nurture the Brigham’s strengths into the future.”