Ernest Stanley Crawford, M.D., born in Evergreen on May 12, 1922, became a pioneering surgeon, teacher, and medical statesman. As a youngster he worked at Conecuh Drug Company and graduated from Evergreen High School in 1940, then earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama in 1943, his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1946, and completed surgical training at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1954. Drawn by a strong interest in the developing fields of open heart surgery and replacement of major blood vessels, he moved to Houston, Texas, where he worked for the next 37 years at Baylor College of Medicine and became full Professor of Surgery in July 1966. Internationally renowned for surgical techniques he developed to treat aneurismal disease of the aorta, he joined every major international vascular society, lectured in many countries, and wrote Diseases of the Aorta, which became a reference source in vascular surgery. He profoundly influenced the field of surgery and the lives of many individuals throughout the world.