Growing up as a left-handed pitcher in West Texas, Dr. Hunt Batjer dreamed of taking the mound for the New York Yankees. Brain surgeon was his backup plan.

Drafted out of high school by the Baltimore Orioles – which already had a deep pitching staff – he took his father’s advice and accepted a baseball scholarship to UT Austin. But a rotator cuff injury ended his baseball career, and he applied to medical school at UT Southwestern.  

Now internationally recognized as a leading cerebrovascular surgeon, Dr. Batjer is the 2020 recipient of the Harvey Cushing Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). Established in 1976 and given annually, the award recognizes AANS members for distinguished service and accomplishments in the field of neurosurgery.

“This is a wonderful honor that in my field is somewhere between a lifetime achievement award and our Neurosurgical Hall of Fame,” said Dr. Batjer, Chair and Professor of Neurological Surgery, a part of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern.

Dr. Batjer’s academic pursuits and research in ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke and brain injuries have resulted in nine books and 467 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. He also has presented 53 endowed lectureships and served as a visiting professor in 63 medical institutions worldwide.

Active in organized medicine leadership for the length of his career, he is a past President of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the Society of University Neurosurgeons, the Neurosurgical Society of America, the Society of Neurological Surgeons, and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, as well as serving in many other roles. In 2017, he began his term on the Board of Directors of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), after serving six years on the ACGME’s Residency Review Committee for Neurological Surgery, which he chaired for four years. He was recently nominated to be Treasurer for the ACGME’s Governance Committee.

In addition to his never-ending passion for cerebrovascular problems, Dr. Batjer has focused much of his career on traumatic brain injury, particularly in sports. He spent eight years as co-Chair of the NFL Head, Neck, and Spine Committee, which developed the league’s concussion protocol.  

“It was through hard work in that arena that we were able to enact 40 rules changes that further defined and protected defenseless players,” he said. “One of those was moving the restraining line 5 yards forward, which reduced concussions on kickoffs by 40 percent.”

Dr. Batjer continues to work with the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the governing body for public middle, junior high, and high schools in Texas. The UIL’s Medical Advisory Committee oversees safety issues for more than 1 million student-athletes.

Dr. Batjer completed his medical degree, general surgery internship, and neurological surgery residency at UTSW. He also completed a neurology fellowship at the University College London and a cerebrovascular disorders fellowship at the University of Western Ontario.

He came aboard the UTSW faculty in 1983 and served for 13 years before joining the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago as the Michael J. Marchese Professor and Founding Chair of Neurological Surgery in 1995. In 2012, he was recruited back to UT Southwestern to take the reins as Chair of Neurological Surgery. Dr. Batjer plans to retire from UTSW at the end of December.

“A career in academic neurosurgery is a truly amazing venture,” he said. “I have always loved the challenge and the opportunities involved in taking on very complicated patients and diseases and throwing everything you have at it to offer them a healthy future. To this date, that is my most important passion.”

Dr. Batjer also has thoroughly loved working with UTSW trainees.

“It is incredible to think that the residents we are currently working with will be practicing in 2060,” he said. “We have a fundamental responsibility to prepare this next generation of physicians for the future that they will face. In addition, it is our responsibility as an academic medical center and an academic department to move the field forward by research and ensure that we are curing patients 20 years from now who cannot currently be cured of some of the worst conditions that mankind faces. Being involved in the research enterprise at many levels over the years has been incredibly rewarding, and out of those activities comes some of the deepest friendships that I have enjoyed.”

The 2020 Harvey Cushing Medal will be formally presented at the 2021 AANS Annual Scientific Meeting in Vancouver.