Rick Nishimura, M.D., receives Mayo Clinic Distinguished Alumni Award
Emeritus professor of medicine
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Minnesota
Mayo Clinic in Minnesota: Joint appointment, Division of Interventional Cardiology, 2019–2023; consultant, Division of Structural Heart Disease, 2016–2023; chair, Division of Structural Heart Disease, 2016–2021; associate chair, Department of Internal Medicine, 2006–2010; Judd and Mary Morris Leighton Professor of Cardiovascular Diseases and Hypertension, 2001–2023; professor of medicine, 1993–2023; consultant, Department of Internal Medicine, 1983–2016
Fellowship: Cardiovascular diseases, Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, Rochester, Minnesota
Residency: Internal medicine, Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education
Internship: Internal medicine, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
Medical school: Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois
Undergraduate: Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois
Master teacher and cardiovascular clinician
At Mayo Clinic, Rick Nishimura, M.D. (I ’80, CV ’83), received the Outstanding Cardiovascular Diseases Teacher Award so many times — over 20 years in a row — that it’s now known as the Dr. Rick Nishimura Teacher of the Year Award.
In addition to his reputation as an outstanding educator, Dr. Nishimura is recognized worldwide as a master clinician with unparalleled experience in hemodynamics and the treatment of valvular disorders. He has won Mayo Clinic’s Distinguished Educator Award and Distinguished Clinician Award. His other awards include the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Gifted Teacher Award, the ACC Presidential Citation and the American Heart Association (AHA) Laennec Clinician/Educator Lecture award.
Dr. Nishimura is an emeritus professor of medicine and consultant in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He is the former chair of the Division of Structural Heart Disease and a Master of the ACC and the American College of Physicians. He has published over 500 peer-reviewed articles and 79 book chapters.
At Mayo Clinic, he reorganized and ran the cardiovascular training program, developed the premier Mayo Clinic Cardiovascular Board Review Course, reorganized the cardiovascular inpatient service, and founded the AskMayoExpert program.
Dr. Nishimura’s areas of expertise include valvular heart disease, structural heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, pericardial disorders and infective endocarditis. He sat on the ACC-AHA Valvular Heart Disease Guideline Committee for 26 years and was chair of that committee for 12 years. He has been a key leader in the development of septal ablation therapy for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Dr. Nishimura is well-known for handling challenging cardiac catheterizations with a meticulous approach that set the standard for complex invasive hemodynamic assessment at Mayo Clinic. He was responsible for validating several novel noninvasive parameters against cardiac catheterization, and his prolific work led to many of these measurements being a mandatory step in echocardiographic studies performed worldwide.
His teaching excellence extends beyond Mayo Clinic. Dr. Nishimura chaired multiple ACC committees, including the Educational Programs and Lifelong Learning Oversight Committees. He was instrumental in the creation of an ACC course to train future clinician educators — now known as the Rick Nishimura, M.D., MACC, and Patrick O’Gara, M.D., MACC, Emerging Faculty Leadership Academy.
The Mayo Clinic Distinguished Alumni Award was established in 1981 by the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees to acknowledge and show appreciation for the exceptional contributions of Mayo alumni to the field of medicine, including medical practice, research, education, and administration. Individuals receiving this award are recognized nationally — and often internationally — in their fields. Read about the other 2024 recipients here.