Christopher Knott-Craig MD

Christopher John Knott-Craig was born and raised in rural South Africa in 1953. His parents and grandparents were all newspaper editors. After training as a pediatric cardiac surgeon, he was recruited to Oklahoma City in 1991 where he was Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery until 2006. Since 2008 he has been Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery and Executive Co-Director of the Heart Institute at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis TN. He first gained international recognition in 1994 when he became the first surgeon in the world to successfully repair newborn babies with the hitherto fatal cardiac condition called Ebstein’s Anomaly. He has been personally recognized for his humanitarian contributions by Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II. Chris Knott-Craig has also completed 16 marathons, several triathlons and successfully climbed Mt Kilimanjaro in 2007. He loves poetry, story-telling, classical music, and impressionist art.