Joseph Cholmondeley Greenfield, Jr.

Joseph C. Greenfield, Jr
July 20, 1931 – October 14, 2020

Dr. Joseph Cholmondeley Greenfield, Jr., James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Medicine passed away in his beloved cabin in the woods on October 14th at the age of 89. He was born on July 20, 1931 to the late Joseph and Agnes Greenfield of Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Greenfield was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended Emory University where he was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity, receiving his bachelor’s degree in History in 1954 and his MD in 1956. He and his wife, Mary Ruth, moved to Durham for one year of post-graduate training that turned into a 60-year career at Duke University. During his tenure, he served as the Chief of Cardiology, Durham Veteran’s Administration Hospital from 1963 to 1983; Chief of Cardiology, Duke University School of Medicine from 1981 to 1989; Chairman of the Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine from 1983 to 1995; director of the ECG service at Duke Hospital from 1971 to 2001, and at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital from 1996 until he retired in 2017.
He completed his Cardiology training at the National Institutes of Health where he and his mentor, Dr. Donald Fry developed techniques for studying blood flow in coronary arteries. He would continue this research throughout his life, initially proving that heart attacks are caused by lack of blood flow to the heart because of blood clots and cholesterol plaques in coronary arteries. This is a concept that anyone who watches television knows today but was controversial in the early 1960’s. This laboratory work inspired the use of clot busting drugs, angioplasty and stents to treat acute heart attacks.
Although he received international recognition for this work, his greatest joy was to teach and mentor the next generation of academic physicians. He led by example, believing that the practice of medicine was a noble profession that required hard work and dedication. He conducted almost daily teaching rounds and joined his interns and residents for midnight pizza rounds every Friday. He felt that it was his job to know everyone as an individual and discover what would inspire them to reach their maximum academic potential while being happy human beings. He said that watching the twinkle in their eyes when they finally “got it” and knew what they wanted to do with their lives was like watching a bird dog when it flushed its first covey and knew that it was born to hunt. When it came to his faculty, he operated on a simple principle: hire good people, give them what they need to succeed and get out of the way. With these philosophies on mentoring and leadership he inspired the careers of over 1000 trainees and faculty members who now represent many of the leaders in medicine and cardiology worldwide.
Dr. Greenfield lived a remarkable life. Not only did he have an amazing career, he was a man of many interests. He loved history, literature, farming, collecting butterflies and a good cigar with a friend. Both he and his father were champion marksman. Although he hunted in Africa his greatest love was quail hunting. He raised and trained his English Pointer bird dogs in Durham and sent them to Florida for the winter where he would join them to hunt. He wrote several books on the subject and one poignant vignette describing heaven as a place where he was young and strong and could still shoot with his father’s 10 gauge.
He was preceded in death by Mary Ruth (Fordham), his wife of nearly 65 years. He leaves behind his three daughters Mary Agnes, Ruth Ann, and Susan Lee, all of Durham, who know that he has been reunited with his loved ones and is happily hunting with Mack, Spot, Rena, Faith and Horatio.
A private enternment service is planned. A memorial service will take place at a later date.
The Greenfield family would like to thank Dr. Mitchell Heflin, Aegis Home Health Care (Maria, Peaches, Mimi, and Nefa), Kim Cannon of LifeLinks, and Duke Hospice for their loving care.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Greenfield Scholars Program at Duke University.