Hugh Calkins, MD, Class of 1975

Hugh is the 6th of 9 children of Evan and Virginia Calkins. He moved to Hamburg at the age of 5 and graduated third in the Class of 1975. His activities included the trumpet, AFS, NHS, and 4H activities with his standard poodle and sheep. Hugh attended Williams college and graduated magna cum laude with Highest Honors in Chemistry, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He then attended Harvard Medical School followed by training in internal medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and in cardiology at Johns Hopkins. Hugh’s first faculty position was at the University of Michigan. He then returned to Johns Hopkins to direct the arrhythmia program. Dr. Calkins currently is the Nicholas Fortuin Professor of Cardiology and Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins. He also is the Director of the Clinical Electrophysiology Laboratory, the Arrhythmia Service, and the ARVD Program. Hugh entered the field of electrophysiology in its infancy and has played a pioneering role in the field. He is particularly well known for his research on catheter ablation to treat arrhythmias. He founded and leads the Johns Hopkins ARVD Program, which cares for patients and carries out research on this inherited cause of sudden death. Dr. Calkins has published more than 600 manuscripts and more than 75 book chapters. He has spoken at medical conferences throughout the world. Dr. Calkins has received many awards including receiving 1st prize in the NASPE Young Investigator Competition in 1988, the Helen B. Taussig Award in 1999, and the Van Ruyven Medal in 2012. Dr. Calkins has been recognized for his clinical excellence by Best Doctors in America, America’s Top Physicians, and Baltimore Magazine. Dr. Calkins served as President of the Heart Rhythm Society, the largest international organization of physicians focused on heart rhythm problems from 2014-2015.