Retired Vanderbilt surgeon John Tarpley gives 25th Levi Watkins Jr. Lecture
VUMC says the Oct. 5 lecture in Light Hall was paired with five mentorship awards.
NASHVILLE - Retired Vanderbilt surgeon John Tarpley, MD, delivered the 25th annual Levi Watkins Jr., MD Lecture on Oct. 5 in Light Hall, according to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center news article published Oct. 9. Tarpley titled the talk "Nobody Even Knows My Name."
VUMC says Watkins, who died in 2015, was the first Black student admitted to and graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the first surgeon to implant an automatic defibrillator in a patient. Tarpley and Watkins met in medical school and began surgery residency together at Johns Hopkins in July 1970, VUMC reports.
Tarpley retired from the medical school faculty in 2016 after about 20 years as program director for general surgery, according to VUMC.
Before the lecture, 2026 Levi Watkins Jr., MD Awards went to Ryan Belcher, MD, MPH, and Pablo Juárez, MEd (faculty); resident Sami Jelousi, MD (house staff); Kyle Enriquez, PhD, MSc (medical student); and Katia Jarufe Siman, MEd (professional degree program), VUMC says.
Source: Vanderbilt University Medical Center news article, Oct. 9, 2026, https://news.vumc.org/2026/10/09/nobody-even-knows-my-name-john-tarpley-considers-his-career-and-life/