Abstract
I am honored to have been asked to give this lecture to express our great appreciation for the major contributions of Dr. Lewis Barness to pediatric health care and the education of medical professionals that has improved the health and well-being of children. The previous Barness lecturers have been “out of town experts” whose careers had been significantly influenced by Dr. Barness. This year as you are well aware “the economy is very bad”, so a local boy was chosen. I am very fortunate to have Dr. Barness as my mentor since I was a medical student and he has greatly influenced my career as well. I am much more pedestrian than the other invited lecturers, but I am pleased to have this opportunity to tell a little about the “Barness” impact on the development of this pediatric department.