Chung Family Honors Their Patriarch’s Legacy Through Neurosurgery Lectureship

Left to right: Peter Chung, Mimi Chung, MD, Julia Chung Pierce, Young Chung, ’85 MD, Jin Woo Chang, MD, PhD, and Maciej Lesniak, MD.

On August 2, 2019, faculty and trainees in Northwestern’s Department of Neurological Surgery gathered for the inaugural Byong Uk Chung, MD Global Neurosurgical Lectureship in Neurosurgery, a unique learning opportunity made possible by generosity from the Chung family to commemorate their patriarch, Byong Uk Chung, MD, ’67 GME.

“Dr. Chung had a tremendous passion for teaching and volunteer work, and for international travel and exchange. To honor his memory and contributions to Northwestern, the city of Chicago, and his patients, the Chung family decided to make a very generous gift to support this lectureship,” said Maciej (Matt) Lesniak, MD, chair and the Michael J. Marchese Professor of Neurosurgery.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Dr. Chung earned his medical degree from Oregon Health and Science University and completed his general surgery training and neurosurgery residency at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He completed a fellowship at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and then went on to practice neurosurgery for more than 40 years in the Northwest suburbs of Illinois. He passed away in 2018.

Paying homage to Dr. Chung’s roots, the family’s first lecture featured guest speaker Jin Woo Chang, MD, PhD, president of the Korean Society of Neurological Surgeons and professor of Neurosurgery at Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul. One of the world’s preeminent neurosurgeons, Dr. Chang delivered a lecture titled “Current and Future Perspective of MR Guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery (MRgFUS) for Brain Disorders.”

“Dr. Chang was an excellent lecturer. His research is very exciting and innovative and will transform neurosurgery treatment for psychiatric disorders, Parkinson's and hopefully things like glioblastoma,” shared Mimi Chung, MD, who traveled to Chicago from California to attend the lecture.

Endowed lectureships at Feinberg provide the funding and occasion for departments and other groups across the medical school to invite visiting lecturers from distinguished peer institutions to share their knowledge and insights and to spend substantive time with our faculty and trainees during their visit.

Make a gift to support the Department of Neurological Surgery at Northwestern.

For more information about supporting neurological surgery, please contact Jordan Sund at jordan.sund@northwestern.edu or (312) 503-2706.