Happy Birthday to You, Professor Borst

Abstract

This October, Hans Georg Borst will be celebrating his 90th birthday, fortunately in what can be considered good physical health at this age, and mentally as alert and nimblewitted as always. This event is really an important and joyful occasion for The Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon as well. Having been established under the name of "Thoraxchirurgie" in 1953 by Vossschulte of Gießen, this journal developed into a platform for thoracic, vascular, and, increasingly, the new breed of cardiac surgeons in Germany and the surrounding countries. Its only drawback was that it was published in German language. When the founding Editor handed over the editorship to H. G. Borst in 1978, articles on cardiac surgery accounted for the majority (53 of 82 articles in that year). Borst later remarked in his seminal Honored Guest's address to the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), "Hands across the ocean" that "early innovatory work published in this and other German language journals remained largely unnoticed abroad." 1 Having spent many and shaping years of his training in the United States, he immediately embarked on the task of changing this situation with a vision to achieve international recognition. On December 12, 1978, The Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon was accepted by the Current Contents Clinical Medicine and listed in the Science Citation Index by Thomson Reuters. The latter was the ancestor of the current impact factor, meaning that the journal has always had one. In 1979, English consequently became the mandatory publication language. Manuscripts could at first still be submitted in German or French (!). However, in case of acceptance, the authors were responsible for a translation. Otherwise there would be no publication. This profound change necessitated a change in the journal title as well. Closely modeled on the most eminent US competitor and paragon, The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Borst came up with the more personalized version of The Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon, thus