Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa—“Dr. Q”—met with students, faculty, staff, trustees, and guests in a day filled with smiles, selfies, and shared conversation on Thursday, April 14, as he made friends across campus. His Austin College visit began Wednesday afternoon with a screening of the second episode of the Netflix Series, The Surgeon’s Cut, featuring Dr. Q and his work in neurosurgery, and, on campus, a live question-and-answer session with the physician.
Later, a Welcome Gala with students offered more opportunities for Dr. Q to learn of ‘RooNation and offer signings of his book Becoming Dr. Q. On Thursday, April 14, his day began with conversations with the College’s Posey Leadership Award Committee before the Award Convocation where he spoke to an audience about his rise from migrant worker to brain surgeon—and the decisions along the way that formed his passions. He told the audience he originally thought his passion was to find a cure for brain cancer. No cancer is less hopeful than brain cancer, he said. After seeing the devastation of the disease, not only in his patients but in his patients’ families, he realized his true passion was to find a way to give hope to those people. He believes he has found that through his work. People put their loved ones in his hands, in the hands of a stranger, and as a brain surgeon and a scientist, he works to return the hope and soul of a family.
Dr. Q told the group gathered that he learned as a young child that you must dream and dream big—so big that you are afraid of your dreams. “A dream,” he said, “is no good if you don’t execute.” The biggest risk is not taking a risk, he said. We all know we will miss every opportunity we don’t try. We have to keep moving “onward.”
At the close of the Leadership Award Convocation, President Steven P. O’Day and Board of Trustees chair David Corrigan ’81 presented the 2022 Austin College Posey Leadership Award to Dr. Q in recognition of his work to improve the quality of health for others, to advance humanitarian health care, and to spread health around the world.
Dr. Q is the William J. and Charles H. Mayo Professor, as well as the Neurosurgeon-in-Chief, professor, and physician-scientist in the Department of Neurologic Surgery at Mayo Clinic Florida in Jacksonville. He also is the co-founder and president of the nonprofit foundation Mission:BRAIN (Bridging Resources and Advancing International Neurosurgery), a nonprofit consortium of U.S. medical professionals, suppliers, and volunteers that conduct neurosurgical missions in countries where health care is lacking.