| Organization: | Creighton University (NE) |
| Year: | 1971 |
The recipient of the 1971 ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award was television pioneer Reverend R.C. Williams.
In May of 1947, the Creighton School of Medicine gained national attention with an experiment in televised surgery. Creighton was the third medical school in the country to televise surgery; the first being Johns Hopkins and the second, the Cleveland Clinic.
Television at the time was new, with limitless possibilities for entertainment, commercial and educational use. Creighton's pioneer in television was the Rev. R.C. Williams, S.J. Fr. Williams, working with WOW-TV and surgeons at St. Joseph's Hospital, successfully televised a symposium on carcinoma of the stomach, broadcasting the surgery to an audience assembled in the School of Nursing.
Named after the great Lefty Gomez, this annual award is presented to an individual who has distinguished himself among his peers and has contributed significantly to the game of baseball locally, nationally and internationally. The Lefty Gomez Award is sponsored by Wilson Sporting Goods.
