Chapter 11: John Mendelsohn: MD Anderson\u27s Secret Weapon

Mr. Stuyck begins this chapter on John Mendelsohn [Oral History Interview] by noting that he was a dark-horse candidate for president. He describes the interview process and how administrators were invited to participate. During an interview session, Mr. Stuyck found Dr. Mendelsohn to be very energetic and wiry. Mr. Stuyck notes that MD Anderson had been ranked second to Memorial Sloan Kettering, but that changed under John Mendelsohn. He says the Dr. Mendelsohn arrived at just the right time in the institution\u27s history: he describes Dr. Mendelsohn as MD Anderson\u27s secret weapon. He tells an anecdote about giving Dr. Mendelsohn advice which he ignored. Mr. Stuyck then talks about Dr. Mendelsohn\u27s difficulties with the media during two conflict of interest cases involving his involvement with Imclone and Enron. Mr. Stuyck explains how he prepared Dr. Mendelson for interviews with the media. He then describes how Dr. Mendelsohn handled his interview with a reporter from KTRK-TV, Channel 13, Wayne Dolcefino, about expenditures for furniture and art: Dr. Mendelsohn was very forthright and convincing, and the reporter let the story slide without publishing it. He then tells a story about a trip to Washington, D.C. for interviews at the Washington Post and PBS.https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1389/thumbnail.jp