Rajam Ramamurthy, M.D., professor emeritus in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, received the Golden Aesculapius Award from the Bexar County Medical Society on Jan. 20.
The award is the society’s highest honor and recognizes a lifetime of distinguished service to patients and the medical profession.
Dr. Ramamurthy, who in 2004 became the first woman president of the Bexar County Medical Society, is now the first woman to receive the Golden Aesculapius Award.
A native of India, Dr. Ramamurthy came to the U.S. in 1967 to Cook County Hospital in Chicago where she completed her pediatrics training and fellowship in neonatology. She moved to San Antonio in 1977 with her husband who was professor of anesthesiology.
At UT Health San Antonio she became a nationally recognized leader in neonatology. She developed the first structured course to teach resuscitation of the newborn. As a regional trainer, she trained hospital based instructors in almost 59 hospitals in south Texas. She has organized the Neonatal Resuscitation Program of the American Academy of Pediatrics every year for the incoming freshman residents in the Departments of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, Family Medicine and OB/GYN.
In 1984, Dr, Ramamurthy was inducted into the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame. She received the TMA Academic Excellence award in 2013. That same year she received the Regents Outstanding Teaching Award, the highest honor for teaching given by the Board of Regents of the UT System.
Dr. Ramamurthy has also been actively involved in the arts and cultural education. She is one of the founders of the Arathi School of Indian dance in San Antonio, has served on numerous arts boards, including the Dean’s Advisory Council of the College of Liberal and Fine arts at UTSA, the Carver Development Board, and currently on the board of Arts San Antonio, an organization that focuses on bringing outstanding national and international performers to area high schools through the ARTSTEACH program.