Dr. Paul S. Pagel '79
2004 Distinguished Alumnus Award for Professional Achievement
Dr. Paul S. Pagel '79 graduated class valedictorian in 1979 from Carroll with a Bachelor
of Science degree in chemistry and mathematics. He went on to receive his M.D. in
1986 and subsequently his MS (1991) and Ph.D. (1994) in Pharmacology and Toxicology
from the Medical College of Wisconsin. He has led a distinguished career at the Medical
College of Wisconsin rapidly rising through the ranks. In 1999, he was promoted to
full professor with tenure in the department of anesthesiology.
Cardiovascular disease and heart failure continue to be critical health problems affecting
thousands of patients undergoing surgery and anesthesia each year. Dr. Pagel’s work
has offered substantial contributions to our current understanding of the effects
of anesthetic drugs on the heart, particularly during heart failure. He has authored
over 100 full-length publications and is internationally recognized as an expert in
left ventricular function.
Pagel was appointed to the editorial board of Anesthesiology, the most highly regarded
journal in the specialty; served as an expert consultant to the State of Wisconsin
Supreme Court; and is one of a select group of anesthesiologists in the U.S. to be
elected to the Fellowship in the American College of Cardiology.
He currently is Director of Cardiac Anesthesia at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
In this role, he developed a fellowship program in cardiac anesthesiology and intraoperative
echocardiography, used for diagnosis, to guide the surgical procedure, to assess immediate
results, to detect complications and to monitor ventricular function. His recent work
investigated the effects of chronic ethanol consumption on ischemic myocardium which
was recognized with the awarding of a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Paul, and his wife, Carroll alumna, Dr. Judith A. May '81, live in Elm Grove, Wis.
