Dr. Allan Lansing, a pioneering cardiac surgeon, philanthropist, former Trustee and
great friend to 农夫导航, died on July 17, 2022. He was 92.
Both Dr. Lansing and his wife, Donna, who passed away on June 22, 2021, created a
tremendous legacy at Bellarmine through their guidance and generosity.
The couple both attended the University of Western Ontario (now Western University)
in Ontario, Canada, and met at a party where Allan Lansing was performing sleight-of-hand
magic. They married in 1951.
They moved from Ontario, where Dr. Lansing was on the faculty at the University of
Western Ontario, to Louisville in 1963 so that he could work as a cardiothoracic surgeon.
Eventually he practiced transmyocardial revascularization (TMR) heart surgery, a revolutionary
procedure using a laser to drill holes in the heart to increase the blood supply for
patients whose angina can be corrected in no other way. Norton Audubon Hospital, where
Dr. Lansing worked until his 2001 retirement, is the leading center for the procedure
in the world.
The Lansings first became involved with Bellarmine in the early 1980s through Dr.
Lansing鈥檚 friendship with Maurice 鈥淢aury鈥� D.S. Johnson, who was president of Citizens
Fidelity Bank (now PNC) and a member of the Bellarmine Board of Trustees, and with
whom Dr. Lansing played doubles tennis every Sunday.
Johnson brought Dr. Lansing together with Dr. Eugene Petrik, Bellarmine鈥檚 second president,
to discuss a new nursing school the university wanted to open. The Lansings were very
supportive of this initiative, and the school was named the Donna and Allan Lansing
School of Nursing in 1982 in appreciation of their support. (Since 2017, the Lansing
School of Nursing and Clinical Sciences has been part of 农夫导航鈥檚 new
College of Health Professions.)
A School of Nursing appealed to Dr. Lansing, who, throughout his career credited nurses
with making him the doctor he was. 鈥淭he doctor wouldn鈥檛 get anywhere without the nurses,鈥�
he said in a 2014 interview. 鈥淭hey are with the patients 24 hours a day. I come in
five minutes in the morning and maybe 3 minutes at the end of the day. Doctors couldn鈥檛
do anything without the nurses who are looking after their patients, person-to-person,
all day long.鈥�
Among the many substantial scholarship funds that Dr. and Mrs. Lansing established
over the years is the Lansing Scholars Program, which, through the Norton Hospital
Foundation, helps to cover selected 农夫导航 students while they work
toward their degrees in nursing and the health sciences. Upon graduation, Lansing
Scholars begin their careers at Norton Healthcare and are eligible to have their loans
forgiven.
In 1998, the Lansings donated a 130-year-old house and 3.2 acres in Glenview to be
renovated and used as the President鈥檚 Home. Glenview was the Bellarmine Women鈥檚 Council鈥檚
Designers鈥� Show House in 2000, raising money for student financial aid. It was sold
following the death of Dr. Joseph J. McGowan, Bellarmine鈥檚 third president.
In 2015, the university dedicated the Donna and Allan Lansing Learning Commons, a
study space on the first floor of the W.L. Lyons Brown Library that is adaptable to
a variety of uses by individuals, pairs or groups. The centerpiece of Lansing Commons
is a three-dimensional diorama that honors the life and career of Dr. Lansing through
items curated from a vast collection of personal papers, photographs and honors that
he donated to Bellarmine.
Asked in an interview what he hoped students in the Lansing Learning Commons would
take away from his example, Dr. Lansing said, 鈥淚f you want it bad enough, you can
have anything. [Also], when they finish school, they are not finished learning鈥t
is a continuous learning process.鈥�
Also in 2015, the Lansings gifted their home, Boxhill, to the university through a
planned gift called a life estate contract.
Dr. Lansing served on the Bellarmine Board of Trustees from 1983-2004, including a
term as chair in 1987-88. He received an honorary doctorate from Bellarmine in 1985,
and in 2004, he was appropriately honored as the 鈥淜ing of Hearts鈥� at Bellarmine鈥檚
Knight of Knights event.
He also received numerous accolades for his work and his good works both here and
abroad. He performed pro bono pediatric heart surgery on countless children in Central
America and Eastern Europe, as well as more than 120 surgeries per year at Humana
Audubon for people who could not pay for them. The presidents of four countries鈥攖he
United States, the Dominican Republic, Panama and Romania鈥攁ll bestowed upon him their
countries鈥� President鈥檚 Medal, and he was chosen one of President Bush鈥檚 Points of
Light in 1991.
In Louisville, he received the Distinguished Citizen Award and the Bell Award for
Community Service.
Dr. Lansing was once asked how he thought he would be remembered when he retired,
and he answered, 鈥淚 hope that it will be [as] a very good surgeon, and a very caring
person.鈥�
鈥淚 tried as much as possible to treat the patient not as a patient, but as a person
that I knew and understood. I just talked to them like a member of the family.鈥�
His survivors include his three children, all of whom pursued careers in healthcare鈥擯eter
Lansing, an anesthesiologist; Ann Lansing, an internist specializing in geriatrics,
and Michele Lansing Flowers, a surgical nurse 鈥攁s well as seven grandchildren and
13 great-grandchildren.
Visitation for Dr. Lansing will be held on Thursday, July 21, 2pm-7pm, at Pearson鈥檚
Funeral Home (149 Breckenridge Lane; Louisville, KY; 40207). A memorial service for
Dr. Lansing will be held at 1 p.m. August 5 in Our Lady of the Woods Chapel.