J. David Richardson: A Biography

Introduction

“For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.”

This introductory quote from Luke 12:48 is the type of reference that individuals familiar with J. David Richardson (JDR) might hear him use in a presentation or discussion of a scientific study, in delivery of a named lecture, or to make a salient point during a committee meeting. Looking back over his life and career, this verse might be applied to him as he has clearly taken what was given to him in the form of God-given talent and opportunity and made the most of it. He has parlayed a multitude of gifts including brilliant intellect, genetic and family background, passion for life, personal drive, superior communication skills, and personal confidence into an unusually successful and fulfilled personal and professional life. Along with his superior intellect, there has been a vision and intuition to be in the right place at the right time and take advantage of significant opportunities or situations to improve life for his family, those around him, or initiatives on behalf of organizations that he may be supporting. He has been given a passion for life that has allowed him to appreciate the soil we walk on, to the trees that grow, to the animals around us, and, most especially, our fellow human beings.

David Richardson and I initially met through our roles as American College of Surgeons (ACS) State Trauma Committee Chairmen for our respective states of Kentucky and Tennessee. We worked together in the early phases of training surgeons in Advanced Trauma Life Support as well as being co-presenters on trauma care at regional trauma postgraduate courses. We are both products of rural America, come from adequate but not financially rich families, are products of public education from elementary school through surgical residency, and share a similar passion for our surgical careers. Over the past 40 years, we have spent hours and days collaborating on projects or initiatives dealing with clinical surgical care, surgical education, and leadership roles in several different surgical organizations. Outside our surgical careers, the extra glue for our relationship arises from our lifelong appreciation of and participation in the livestock industry. David’s history is from the perspective of a lifetime involvement in raising and racing thoroughbred horses, whereas mine reflects a similar commitment and experience in the beef cattle industry. With that background and life experience, we have educated and excited each other about the respective avocations that we hold dear. Over these same years, our mutual interests and collaborative efforts have brought our families together, and we have all shared many of life’s pleasures as well as heartaches and challenges.

Early Life

James David Richardson was the first child born to William and Lovena Richardson in Morehead, Kentucky, county seat of Rowan County. Father William Richardson grew up in rural (“head of the holler”) Rowan County from a poor family and could only complete an 8th grade education due to poverty and remote geographic location. Lovena Davis grew up in Morehead and was privileged to complete high school but received no further formal education. They were married when she was 19 years and William was 17 years. At the age of 18 years, William joined the United States Army, and James David Richardson was born while his father served in Italy during World War II. Once he completed his military obligation, William went to work as a wholesale distributor salesman. After several years, he bought the struggling company and, from that point, it flourished, and he became a very successful and respected Morehead business leader. In business, he was unusually resourceful and savvy and could reportedly add columns of numbers in his head faster than an adding machine. During his career, William and Lovena made many contributions to the Morehead community through civic and charitable organizations. Later in life, he sold the wholesale business but retained the building it housed, which he, Lovena, and his children later donated to become the site for establishment of the Kentucky Folk Art Center. This facility has become a popular tourist destination in Morehead.

While JDR’s first name is James, he was always called David in his early life (interestingly, several other members of his family are also known by their middle names). Only after he went away to medical school, the J. was added to his identifying name, and he has been consistently referred to by that name since. Many colleagues in the academic and surgical world who know him simply refer to him as “J David.”

As mentioned, David Richardson’s early education began in public schools in Morehead and Rowan County, and the remainder of his formal education was completed in public institutions as well. In high school, he was an outstanding student and rose to be valedictorian of his class, (Two of his younger siblings were also valedictorian at this school.) He was noted to be a gifted drummer but was discharged from the band after having a physical fight with the band director. During high school, he won a state essay contest on ethics and citizenship. This was apparently the first time anyone from Rowan County had entered the contest, let alone win it. He also teamed up with a fellow classmate to win the statewide high school debate contest. During his sophomore year in high school, he met and began to date another Morehead native, Suzanne Hargis, and their lifetime together started then.

After high school, David stayed at home after receiving multiple scholarships to attend Morehead State University, where he graduated in 3 years with a near perfect grade point average. It is noteworthy that his brother Ron, who was 2 years younger, followed him to Morehead State University and became the first student of that school to graduate with a perfect average of 4.0. In recent years, JDR has been awarded an honorary doctorate degree from his alma mater. David and Suzanne Hargis were married soon after graduation from college and moved on to medical school.

Medical/Surgical Education

JDR was awarded a tuition scholarship to the University of Kentucky (UK) medical school, while wife Suzanne worked as a secretary in the Department of Surgery. As early as high school, he knew he wanted to be a doctor, and, from his time in medical school, he knew he wanted to be a surgeon. Following graduation from medical school, he was recruited as an intern and resident to the Department of Surgery at UK and spent 2 years there. He then transferred to the University of Texas at San Antonio following one of his favorite professors, J. Kent Trinkle, MD. In San Antonio, he completed both general surgery and thoracic surgery residency under the chairmanship of J. Bradley Aust, MD, who became a longtime friend and colleague. He subsequently became board-certified in general surgery, thoracic surgery, vascular surgery, and critical care surgery (I do not believe that there are many surgeons who are quadruple-boarded).

After completing his training in San Antonio, he was recruited to the faculty of the University of Louisville (U of L) by Chairman Hiram C. Polk, MD. David’s academic tenure and the success of his efforts at U of L will not be elaborated on here as other authors in this literary Festschrift will speak to it. It is important to point out, however, that his experience as a professor at U of L has been unusually positive on the personal and professional lives of hundreds of medical students, residents, and fellow faculty members. While he is proud of many successes in his academic surgical career, probably none is more personally enriching than the success of those colleagues and trainees. His capacity to remember a student by name and something about them as a student as well as where they hail from in Kentucky is staggering. Virtually every U of L student we interview for residency feels as though they have a best friend in JDR. Beyond U of L students and residents, JDR has also served as counselor, advisor, supporter, and consultant to many practicing and academic surgeons in their careers. In many cases, he has helped them manage their career development but has also been there to assist in managing the heartbreak and anguish of failure.

There are numerous stories of JDR speaking out on issues and taking a leadership role as it relates to healthcare. Perhaps none is more illustrative of that than his willingness to give a detailed account and go on public record to a newspaper reporter about the deterioration in the management of trauma patients at the U of L Hospital that had arisen after the hospital had been taken over by another hospital system. This issue led to public debate and analysis with the ultimate result of a return of the University Hospital to an independent status and restoration of staffing levels more conducive to excellent care expected at that great institution. The fact that David was on a first name basis with the Governor of Kentucky probably helped resolve this issue.

Thoroughbred Horses

Although JDR chose to pursue a career in medicine during high school, he also knew he wanted to learn about and become involved in thoroughbred horse breeding, raising, and racing. This interest was engendered by relationships with multiple immediate family members, relatives, and friends in Kentucky. Chief among those individuals was Hall of Fame trainer and family relative Woody Stephens who took a strong interest in David and the rest of his family. Mr Stephens shared a personal background of growing up poor in rural Kentucky but had ultimately risen to national and international fame as a thoroughbred horse trainer. While he is known for thousands of racing wins, Woody is probably best known for winning the Belmont Stakes “Triple Crown” race 5 consecutive years during the 1980s, an unmatched feat in horse racing. He was very close to the Richardson family and, especially, to David and brother Ron. Woody and his wife were not blessed with children, and many have observed over the years that David was the closest thing to a son that he had in life. The early history of JDR in the thoroughbred business can be traced to doors opened by Mr Stephens. Once those doors were opened, JDR took it upon himself to move forward and achieve success as a knowledgeable horseman, horse breeder, racing horse owner, handicapper, and, especially, as a leader in the organized sport of thoroughbred horse racing.

As with many people who develop a passion for livestock as a young person, JDR had a desire to know as much as he could from the ground up about thoroughbred horses. He availed himself of opportunities to learn everything about feeding, grooming, training, and racing thoroughbred horses. He subsequently came to understand fully the role that each individual owner, trainer, and worker has to play in bringing that horse to the racetrack and complete a race. He also became a student of the business side including ownership shares in mares and stallions, stallion selection, auction and private treaty sales, and business/finance management of all facets of the industry.

As a result of years of study and preparation, JDR is comfortable and recognized in all aspects of the thoroughbred horse business. If one spends time with him at a horse racing event such as the Kentucky Derby or Saratoga, New York, you will be introduced to a range of his friends and colleagues from the thoroughbred industry. This includes Princes of oil-rich countries, billionaires, lots of millionaires, sports legends who are now sports commentators, film and TV stars, Hall of Fame trainers and jockeys, exercise riders, grooms, and stable hands. (Years ago, you might be introduced to a bookie or two, but legalized gambling and betting has largely reduced the likelihood of that occurring). His lifetime interest in and passion for the entire sport of thoroughbred horse racing has been chronicled on several occasions in horse publications such as The Blood-Horse, a weekly news magazine from The American Thoroughbred Breeders Association.^1,2 He summarized his experience in a presentation at the Southeastern Surgical Congress in 2018 that is available on the internet for those who would want to watch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZQP-6YBcyo). ³

During medical school and subsequent surgical residency training, David spent any extra time available studying the current status as well as the history of the horse racing sport. He studied horse pedigrees and results of historic races such as the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, Preakness, etc., and, with his encyclopedic memory, he became an enviable authority. In many circumstances, he can explain to the owners of multimillion dollar horses the pedigree and background of their famous animals better than the owner or trainer. His urge to become involved in the ownership side of thoroughbred racing was achieved near the end of his chief residency when he bought into a partnership of a horse that became an outstanding broodmare. (He admits that he and Suzanne owned a share of a horse before they bought furniture.)

After the completion of residency training, JDR moved more aggressively into ownership of horses, especially broodmares. He is justifiably proud of his personal history of owning and raising thoroughbred horses continuously since his initial purchase. Either by himself or in partnership with others, he has raised and sold over 1000 horses that have ultimately won races at different tracks. He has individually owned and won more than 100 races as a thoroughbred owner. He remains very active as a horseman as he currently owns over 40 horses, ranging from 6-month old colts to developing yearlings to broodmares as well as several that are in training and actively racing. If you ask him “how are the horses?” he will usually lead off with how those that are racing did last week.

While well-known as an expert horseman and breeder, JDR is equally active and respected as a visionary and highly effective leader in the industry. The Jockey Club is the organization designated to insure the integrity and stability of the breed and implements standards and other activities with jurisdiction over the sport. This organization is limited to 100 members, and most of those members are either wealthy owners or individuals for whom the thoroughbred industry activity is their primary job or vocation. JDR was elected to membership in 2001, and he has half-jokingly stated that he was both the youngest and poorest member of this August body at the time of his election. There are multiple committees functioning within the Jockey Club that supervise, legislate, and/or control the breadth of activities for the sport such as registration of animals and publication of accurate results data, etc. JDR has participated in many of these committee activities. Respect for him has grown to the point that he has achieved multiple important positions of leadership in this industry such as Chairman of the Stakes Racing Committee which is the group that decides on the relative competitive importance of races as well as developing and monitoring rules about legal pharmacologic treatment of horses that are in training and competition. Additionally, he has served on the Board of The Blood-Horse magazine that promotes and disseminates current information on thoroughbred breeding and ownership as well as summary results of recent races. Also, he currently serves on the Breeders Cup Board, which is the annual international racing event where horses from all over the world compete for what are the most prized championships in the industry. He is currently the Chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association which is the largest segment of the industry dedicated to thoroughbred breeding. He has served as President of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Breeders Association (KTBA) on several occasions and has been awarded the Outstanding Thoroughbred Breeder of that organization multiple times, as well. He has served on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for many years, through both Republican and Democratic administrations. As a result of the prestige awarded him through these national and international activities, he has been a special honored guest at several international horse racing events in the world such as in Dubai, Japan, and Ireland.

The care and training of thoroughbred horses is exquisite and demanding. At a racetrack, this activity takes place in the area referred to as “the Back Side.” This is the physical location of barns and facilities necessary to house and care for these horses in training. It takes an army of individuals including grooms and stable hands to complete this work. These individuals receive virtually no recognition and live in mostly marginal financial situations. Consistent health care is a huge problem for them. This was a situation clearly identified by JDR years ago and, in the 1990s, he started an informal clinic on the Back Side at Churchill Downs in Louisville. In the early phase of this program, he delivered primary care for problems such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus himself. Also, he would make appropriate referrals to other physicians or healthcare facilities. He later recruited several of his horsemen physician friends to also contribute to the effort. This program ultimately received national attention, and formal Back Side clinics have now been initiated in many racetracks in America with a resultant substantial improvement in quality of life for the people served.

JDR has far too many close friends and associates in the thoroughbred industry to enumerate here. A few who deserve mentioning include the aforementioned Woody Stephens, trainer Bill Mott, horse farm manager Bill Landis, and KTBA employee Lanny Kohnhorst. Woody Stephens’ impact on JDR’s development as a horseman has been previously referenced. Now, some 20 years after his passing, Mr Stephens is still spoken of in reverential, glowing terms by people who knew him or from students of the sport who are aware of his reputation. The fact that he trusted JDR as a young man to help him select horses to train or to send JDR to an auction to bid sometimes millions of dollars on his behalf added great credibility to JDR in the racing world (Figure 1). His relationship with Bill Mott dates back to the early 1980s, and he has been a close personal friend as well as a horse trainer for JDR. Bill Mott was the youngest trainer ever elected to the Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York and remains highly successful in the industry. In the recent past, he has won the Belmont Stakes “Triple Crown” race and also trained the 2019 Kentucky Derby Winner, Country House. The morning after the Kentucky Derby, an informal press conference is always held on the Back Side with the winning trainer. I was impressed that after Bill Mott finished that interview in May 2019, the first person he came to talk to was JDR (Figure 2). Also, Mott was recently inducted into the Walk of Fame honorary designation at Saratoga racetrack, and JDR gave his induction presentation. Bill Landis is the longtime manager of Hermitage Farm, where JDR houses many of his mares for breeding as well as colt development. The two share a passion and expertise in horse evaluation, and it is interesting and educational to overhear their evaluation and critique of a horse. Lanny Kohnhorst manages the KTBA office on the Back Side at Churchill Downs. He keeps JDR updated in “boots on the ground” information regarding daily activities and rumors that abound there. He will sometimes deliver a curmudgeon’s perspective on horse racing, horses, politics, and life that JDR greatly enjoys.

Figure 1.

David Richardson and Woody Stephens.

Figure 2.

David Richardson and Bill Mott.

References have already been made to the multiple phases of the thoroughbred industry in which JDR enmeshes himself. One of the other areas he especially enjoys is handicapping races. He is an individual who multiple people call on race day to find out how he plans to bet on a race. In several situations during Kentucky Derby week, he is an invited entertainer in bars or restaurants to summarize his analysis of the horses in the race and how he might plan to bet on it. My family and I have been fortunate to attend many racing events with JDR and, under his tutelage, have at times been very successful at the wagering booth. At other times, I have sent him some wagers for races I could not attend and have benefitted from that. (I once sent him $100 when I could not attend the Kentucky Derby and the next week got $800 back in an envelope.)

Family and Personal Health

Most surgeons are intimately familiar with death and near-death experiences through their work. David Richardson has lived through at least 3 such events personally, including pulmonary embolism on one occasion and severe iliofemoral thrombosis that required embolectomy with attendant massive blood transfusions on another. He and his family have a particular susceptibility to degenerative spine issues, and he has undergone 4 major operative spine procedures, the side effects of which ultimately curtailed his operating surgical career. Interestingly, his brother and closest friend Ron has also undergone multiple spinal procedures.

JDR has an unusually strong dedication to his immediate family. Brother Ron, who also lives and practices gastroenterology in Louisville, is not only his best friend but also one of his best referring doctors and horse partners (Figure 3). David has paid close attention to other members of his family to encourage a lifetime of family experiences enriching the family legacy. For many years, he and Suzanne planned a 1-week vacation trip to different locations each summer for their children, JDR’s mother and father as well as JDR’s nieces and nephews. This trip was focused on an opportunity to grow together as a family as they matured in life. It included special entertainment but was also punctuated with well-planned experiences that ensured an appreciation for history and other pertinent facts regarding the vacation location they visited. As a result of this continued nourishment of family relationships, “Uncle David” is almost always on the “have to visit” list of nieces and nephews when they are in his neighborhood or return to Louisville to visit. He has been a confidant and supporter throughout their lives.

Figure 3.

David Richardson and brother Ron Richardson.

David has frequently openly discussed the very close relationship he has with his children Amy, Britt, and Melissa. They talk on an almost daily basis. He has a special kinship with daughter Amy Richardson Paul, MD, who is a highly respected and industrious obstetrician and gynecologist in LaGrange, a Louisville suburb. Amy is and has been for several years the matriarch of the family, and she and her siblings and grandchildren are an inspiration to JDR.

Significant health issues punctuated the last 10 years of David’s beloved wife Suzanne’s life. These health issues greatly limited some of the activities they enjoyed together in both the surgical and horseracing world. Her sudden death in 2016 was a devastating event to David as they had been a couple since high school in Rowan County. After her death, he sustained himself through work and family but remained lonely and depressed. Friends, family, and colleagues are pleased and thankful that he has now married Maxine Rogers, whom he met through his work at the ACS. Their relationship has energized him, and they are enjoying the next chapter of life together.

Surgery/Leadership

Like many outstanding surgeons, David Richardson’s personal internal measure of success is not the number of cases he has performed or financial remuneration he received nor even how many papers or presentations he has given but is measured in “how did the patient do” and what impact did his treatment have on their lives. Other authors may address this topic in greater depth, but I think it is safe to opine here that he sees himself first as a surgeon/physician and the other aspects of his career follow that in importance. I have attached a letter written in 2014 at the request of several Advisory Councils of the ACS to nominate JDR as President of the ACS. (Supplementary Appendix 1) This letter summarizes many aspects of his surgical and academic career. He was elected, but his tenure as President of the ACS was interrupted by one of his near-death health experiences. In spite of this limitation, he was able to promote several progressive initiatives at the ACS and traveled to speak and represent the organization at many meetings nationally and internationally. Several major initiatives in the world of surgery and surgical education have his fingerprints, but especially the establishment of the ACS Advisory Council on Rural Surgery and initiation of the ACS Mastery of Surgery Program (formerly Transitions to Practice program). At the present time, he is no longer active in the operating room due to health issues but continues to be a very potent and influential member of the Department of Surgery at the U of L through his administrative and leadership talent.

Conclusion

J. David Richardson has led a life “well lived.” The fact that his life has been outstanding and fruitful in so many ways through his personal influence on others’ lives in the world of clinical surgical care, surgical academia, surgical leadership, thoroughbred horse breeding, and racing, and his family is remarkable. This writer is proud The American Surgeon has dedicated an issue to preserve and emphasize those contributions.

Supplemental Material

sj-jpg-1-asu-10.1177_0003134820981711 – Supplemental Material for J. David Richardson: A Biography

Supplemental Material, sj-jpg-1-asu-10.1177_0003134820981711 for J. David Richardson: A Biography by R. Phillip Burns in The American Surgeon

Supplemental Material

sj-jpg-2-asu-10.1177_0003134820981711 – Supplemental Material for J. David Richardson: A Biography

Supplemental Material, sj-jpg-2-asu-10.1177_0003134820981711 for J. David Richardson: A Biography by R. Phillip Burns in The American Surgeon