Bruce Leavitt, M.D.'81 (Photo: UVM Medical Communications)

Bruce J. Leavitt, M.D., has been selected by the University of Maine Alumni Association to receive the Bernard Lown '42 Humanitarian Award at the annual Alumni Achievement Awards dinner and recognition ceremony on April 5, 2019 at the UMaine campus in Orono.


The award recognizes dedication to outstanding service and impact at the regional, national or global level through active engagement in saving lives, relieving suffering, and promoting human dignity.


A professor of surgery and division chief of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Vermont's Larner College of Medicine and University of Vermont Medical Center, Leavitt has traveled to Rwanda, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Panama, Russia, and China to perform heart surgeries as a member of Team Heart, Doctors Without Borders, and other humanitarian aid organizations. A Waterville, Maine, native, Leavitt graduated from UMaine in 1977 and UVM's Larner College of Medicine in 1981. He completed a general surgery residency at Maine Medical Center, followed by a residency in cardiopulmonary surgery at the SUNY Health Science Center in Syracuse, N.Y. before joining UVM  In 1988.

Founded in 1875, the UMaine Alumni Association is an independent, not-for-profit, organization dedicated to advancing the best interests of UMaine and its former, current, and future students. The Alumni Association has more than 109,000 members living in 50 states and 112 countries.