WFU president leaves hospital to recuperate at home

By Kevin Cox
336.758.5237
December 17, 2003

Wake Forest University President Thomas K. Hearn Jr. has returned home to recuperate nearly one week after brain surgery.

Hearn, who has served as Wake Forest’s president for 20 years, was discharged from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center on Dec. 16.

The university president’s surgery on Dec. 11 was related to his ongoing treatment for a brain tumor discovered this fall. In a Dec. 10 letter to the university community, Hearn explained that a complication had developed that required surgery. Hearn, 66, completed radiation therapy at the Medical Center at the end of November.

Hearn’s recovery is progressing well at home. The university previously announced that he had responded well after surgery.

During Hearn’s recuperation, Provost William C. Gordon is serving as acting president. In his recent letter to the Wake Forest community, Hearn wrote that his recuperation would require his “full energies and attention for some significant time.”

His family has requested no visitors during this early period of recuperation.

The president first announced the medical condition in early October.

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