MESSAGE FROM THE IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR
BluePrint is published once a year by Duke Anesthesiology. This issue was published in December 2025. Your comments, ideas and letters are welcome. VIEW ISSUES ONLINE: blueprint.duhs.duke.edu PLEASE CONTACT US: Duke Anesthesiology BluePrint Magazine DUMC 3094 Durham, NC 27710 blueprint@duke.edu EDITOR IN CHIEF Stacey Hilton CREATIVE DIRECTOR Stacey Hilton GRAPHIC DESIGNER Lacey Chylack, phase5creative.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Stacey Hilton Lindsay Key Ratna Swaminathan Duke Anesthesiology Faculty & Staff PROOFREADERS Lynet Gonzales Christopher Keith Melinda Macalino John “Jack” Newman CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS John “Jack” Newman Duke Anesthesiology Faculty & Staff WEB ADMINISTRATOR Christopher Keith CONNECT WITH US: anesthesiology.duke.edu
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decade ago, I was entrusted with an incredible opportunity—to serve as chair of Duke Anesthesiology. It is difficult to compress ten years of shared vision, challenges, growth, and extraordinary people into a few paragraphs, but one thing is clear: serving alongside each of you has been the honor of a lifetime. Firmly believing that “everything rises and falls on leadership,” I have invested deeply in leadership development—not only across our department, but in my own journey as well. This year, I found myself revisiting “High Road Leadership,” John Maxwell’s timely call for leaders to rise above offense, division, and cynicism, and to instead lead with humility, integrity, and service. Maxwell reminds us that leaders with integrity commit to character over personal gain, people over things (especially money), service over power, principle over convenience, and the long view over the immediate. Humility, meanwhile, is the willingness to value others above oneself, to listen before speaking, and to serve without needing credit. In today’s world - where division and polarization are often the currency of influence can we begin to imagine how our communities might be transformed if we each led with integrity and humility? Maxwell also writes, “The high road seeks to add value to others.” If there is one thing I am grateful for in these ten years, it is the chance to do just that - to contribute meaningfully to this remarkable department, and to be shaped, challenged, and inspired by all of you in return. I leave this role with deep gratitude, respect, and hope. Hope—for a future where anesthesiology remains not only clinically vibrant, but scientifically trailblazing and relationally rich. Hope that we continue to prioritize people over process, legacy over ego, and impact over impression. And to that last point, it seems no coincidence that North Carolina’s state motto is Esse Quam Videri—a Latin phrase meaning “to be rather than to seem.” So, as we turn the pages of this year’s BluePrint, let us not only celebrate what has been achieved but also ask what more we can become. The future of Duke Anesthesiology is not yet written, but the road we choose will determine the story we tell. Let us choose the high road. Lead with integrity and humility, value people and add value to them. Always. Grace and Peace!
Joseph P. Mathew MD, MHSc, MBA
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