Dr. Paul S. Pagel '79

2004 Distinguished Alumnus Award for Professional Achievement

Dr. Paul S. Pagel '79 graduated class valedictorian in 1979 from Carroll with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and mathematics. He went on to receive his M.D. in 1986 and subsequently his MS (1991) and Ph.D. (1994) in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the Medical College of Wisconsin. He has led a distinguished career at the Medical College of Wisconsin rapidly rising through the ranks. In 1999, he was promoted to full professor with tenure in the department of anesthesiology.

Cardiovascular disease and heart failure continue to be critical health problems affecting thousands of patients undergoing surgery and anesthesia each year. Dr. Pagel’s work has offered substantial contributions to our current understanding of the effects of anesthetic drugs on the heart, particularly during heart failure. He has authored over 100 full-length publications and is internationally recognized as an expert in left ventricular function.

Pagel was appointed to the editorial board of Anesthesiology, the most highly regarded journal in the specialty; served as an expert consultant to the State of Wisconsin Supreme Court; and is one of a select group of anesthesiologists in the U.S. to be elected to the Fellowship in the American College of Cardiology. 

He currently is Director of Cardiac Anesthesia at the Medical College of Wisconsin. In this role, he developed a fellowship program in cardiac anesthesiology and intraoperative echocardiography, used for diagnosis, to guide the surgical procedure, to assess immediate results, to detect complications and to monitor ventricular function. His recent work investigated the effects of chronic ethanol consumption on ischemic myocardium which was recognized with the awarding of a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Paul, and his wife, Carroll alumna, Dr. Judith A. May '81, live in Elm Grove, Wis.