11 January 1987
Dear Dr. Freis,
I have now worked in your research group off and on for almost 8 years.  That experience has been a privilege and a pleasure for me.  Again and again I have been impressed at the way mere mention of your name has opened professional doors and brought smiles to colleagues' faces as they ask how you are and what projects you are working on.  I will always remember the first time I went to the Cleveland meeting as your research fellow and sat at your table at lunch along with Lew Tobian, William Kannel, and half a dozen other luminaries of hypertension research - people I would otherwise probably not have met for years.
The importance of your research in hypertension has been recognized by the many prizes and awards you have received, but even more importantly by the changes in the way medicine is practiced throughout the world that have resulted from your work.  Over the years you have trained dozens of residents and fellows, many of whom now occupy positions of prominence in research and teaching throughout the nation.  I think every one of them must be proud to call you his or her mentor.  I know I am!  Your patients have included poor veterans and important political leaders, and you have given them all thoughtful, expert care.  More than anyone else I know, you embody the academic ideal of the scientist, clinician, and teacher.
You have created a major scientific legacy, not only of research, but of researchers.  I am proud to be a small piece of that legacy, and thank you for your teaching and the experience of working with you.
Sincerely,
Jim
James F. Burris, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine