If you know 网红爆料, Baltimore (UMB) President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, you鈥檙e surely aware that he鈥檚 a surgeon by trade and that metalsmithing is his favorite hobby. But did you know he has a degree in engineering, restored antique cars as a high schooler, has six grandchildren, and recently acquired a fondness for listening to music on YouTube?
These are just a few of the insights into Jarrell鈥檚 life that were discussed Dec. 3 during a special episode of Virtual Face to Face with President Bruce Jarrell. Normally the online program鈥檚 host, Jarrell instead was the special guest as Denise Koch of WJZ-TV served as guest host asking him questions in a virtual event titled Up Close and Personal with President Bruce Jarrell.
(l-r) Bruce Jarrell in middle school in Caroline County, at home with grandchildren today, and in his ironworking shop
Koch and Jarrell talked about his early life, career as a transplant surgeon, hobbies, impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and other topics before the longtime Baltimore TV anchor asked a simple question: Is there anything about President Jarrell that would surprise people?
鈥淚 would say that, like many other people, I鈥檓 a paradox,鈥� said Jarrell, who was named UMB鈥檚 leader in September after serving eight months as interim president. 鈥淚 love being with people and talking and interacting. That鈥檚 the way I do business: face to face.
鈥淎nd yet on the opposite end, there鈥檚 nothing that gives me greater pleasure than being in my workshop with the door shut. In there, it鈥檚 totally quiet and I can focus on exactly what I鈥檓 doing. So I need both of those things in my life.鈥�
Koch kicked off the interview by saying she was surprised to learn that Jarrell had grown up in Caroline County on Maryland鈥檚 Eastern Shore, asking how a child from a farming family came to be a surgeon. Jarrell said working at his family鈥檚 tomato canning factory taught him many life lessons and skills, and that living in a small town with one general practitioner showed how important a doctor can be to a community.
鈥淚t was a wonderful place for a kid because I learned how to do everything,鈥� Jarrell said of working in his family鈥檚 cannery. 鈥淚 learned how to fix machinery, how to weld and do metalwork, how to pick tomatoes, how to put labels on tin cans, and how to sell them. I learned it all from soup to nuts.
鈥淭hat general practitioner was a pillar in the community and something of a role model. My father certainly thought that medicine was important, too, and he pushed my older brother to do that. But not me. He knew I was an engineer.鈥�
As an Eastern Shore native, Jarrell said he looked to the University of Delaware in Newark as his 鈥淒elmarva鈥� state school and was attracted to its well-regarded College of Engineering. As a senior, he attended a conference about mass transfer and dialysis that proved to be life-changing.
鈥淎ll of a sudden, a whole new world opened up to me, because I learned about dialysis from an engineering point of view and said, 鈥榃ait a minute, I think I want to be on the doctor side of this,鈥� 鈥� said Jarrell, who went on to earn a medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and settled into the field of transplant surgery before joining UMB in 1997 as chair of the School of Medicine鈥檚 Department of Surgery.
The program was interspersed with photos of Jarrell as a boy and a transplant surgeon, shots of him playing with his grandchildren in his Severna Park home, and examples of his metalwork, including the window art he made with Ukrainian blacksmith Anatoliy Rudik in 2012 that was installed in the SMC Campus Center. Koch quizzed Jarrell on his metalwork, music appreciation, and newfound affection for YouTube. All the while, he extolled the benefits of having outside pursuits and work-life balance.
鈥淚t鈥檚 absolutely essential to have an outlet besides your job, a hobby or a passion for something, and I鈥檝e appreciated that with my metalwork,鈥� Jarrell said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e also grown to love YouTube. I don鈥檛 look much at videos, but I like to listen. And it鈥檚 allowed me to really broaden my knowledge of music 鈥� orchestral, opera, things like that. There are modern composers who are really good, and I would have never discovered them if not for YouTube.鈥�
Asked about other outside interests, Jarrell said he enjoys books that are artistic or historical in nature 鈥� he鈥檚 enjoying one now about Sparrows Point 鈥� but that you won鈥檛 find him reading them on a beach vacation. His travel generally has an educational purpose 鈥� to learn about UMB programs abroad, take courses on other crafts, or study experts in other fields. As for pursuing new hobbies down the road, he鈥檚 keeping an open mind. After all, his mother, who lived to 101, was taking embroidery courses at age 90.
鈥淭he key thing about my mother is that she was always learning, and what makes me tick is that I鈥檓 going to do everything I can to be intellectually challenged,鈥� Jarrell said. 鈥淎 day without learning is a day wasted, so I need to be learning something new every day.鈥�
Watch the entire program by accessing the video link at the top of the page.
