Dr. Woodrow or Woody Benson, Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Cardiac Research at Children’s Hospital of WI, Medical College of WI, attended medical and graduate school at Emory University. He obtained a PhD in Biomathematics and Biomedical Engineering at the University of NC-Chapel Hill and an MD from Duke University. Pediatric residency and cardiology fellowship were completed at Duke Medical Center. Early in his career, he pursued interests in cardiac electrophysiology and introduced this discipline to pediatric cardiology. In 1986, he became Director of Cardiology at Children’s Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University. In mid-career, under the auspices of a NIH Senior Fellowship, he trained to become an investigator in the molecular genetics of pediatric heart disease subsequently pursuing patient-oriented genetic research. Dr. Benson’s investigations identified the role of mutations in pediatric heart disease and established bicuspid aortic valve as a complex genetic disorde