2014 Distinguished Alumnus: J. Tift Mann

The 2014 College of Sciences Distinguished Alumnus is Dr. J. Tift Mann. Mann graduated from NC State in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in zoology. He then attended the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, graduating with a medical degree in 1969.

Following a residency at N.C. Memorial Hospital, he served two years in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps. Afterwards, Mann was a senior resident in internal medicine and then returned to N.C. Memorial Hospital as a fellow in cardiology. After a year as an instructor at Harvard Medical School and co-director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Tift joined Raleigh Internal Medicine Associates.

In 1984, Mann and two partners founded Wake Heart & Vascular, one of the state’s largest cardiology practices. By the time he retired in 2012, he had performed 17,000 cardiac catheterizations. During his career there, Mann developed a balloon angioplasty whereby a physician can mechanically open obstructed arteries. He later was involved in the development of what’s known as “transradial access” for catheterization procedures, a technique using an artery in the wrist, as opposed to the groin, in order to reduce bleeding complications. The technique has now been adopted worldwide.

Mann has published more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and six book chapters. In recognition of his achievements, he has been honored with the Triangle Business Journal’s 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award, a lifetime achievement award from the international transradial group AIMRadial, and the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award from the UNC School of Medicine.