52nd Annual Distinguished Service Award

Lenard L. Politte                        

Physician

Columbia, Mo.

Columbia’s first cardiologist in private practice, Lenard Politte, MD ’62, was an early leader in mid-Missouri in cardiac catheterization and pacemaker implantation. He retired from practice in 1999 and now supervises cardiology fellows at MU as a clinical professor of medicine. Recipient of the Missouri State Medical Association Honor Graduate Award in 1962, Politte graduated first in his class from the MU School of Medicine. After residency training in pathology, internal medicine and cardiology, he joined the School of Medicine staff and later enlisted in the military to serve in Vietnam. During his military service he received a distinguished service award from the Vietnamese military and The Army Commendation Medal. After returning to private practice in 1969, he became a founding member and the first president of Boone Clinic, the first multispecialty clinic in Columbia. A fellow of the American College of Physicians, he started the heart program, was a chief of staff at Boone Hospital Center and a founding member of the Missouri Cardiovascular group, the Missouri Heart Institute and Columbia Regional Hospital. In the community he is a trustee of Stephens College and a board member of First National Bank, Boone Hospital Foundation and Missouri Heart Institute Foundation. He serves MU as a national steering committee member of the For All We Call Mizzou campaign, a member of the Mizzou Flagship Council, and chair of the Chancellor’s Residence Preservation Committee. Politte is past president of the Medical School Foundation and is president-elect of the Medical School Alumni Organization. He is a distinguished fellow of the Jefferson Club, member of the McAlester Society, life member of the Mizzou Alumni Association and recipient of a Faculty-Alumni Award in 1999. Politte and his wife Mary Lu, have four children: Keith, Caryl, Kevin and Craig, BS BA ’93; and four grandchildren.