| Award | Leibrock Lifetime Achievement Award |
| Name | Sam Hassenbusch |
| Year | 2005 |
| Description | Sam Hassenbusch's claims to fame were many and varied. Beginning with election to Phi Beta Kappa as an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins and progressing through the Resident of the Year Award at Johns Hopkins, (where he did his medical school and neurosurgical training and obtained a Ph.D. in Pharmacology) continuing with Distinguished Service Awards from the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the American Neuromodulation Society and the World Institute of Pain and ultimately receiving Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians and the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Hassenbusch's career was marked by excellence in whatever he chose to pursue. His primary clinical interests were in the areas of brain tumor treatment and pain control regarding which he authored over 120 articles and book chapters. He particularly focused on glioma treatment after he was diagnosed with a glioblastoma which he valiantly fought and to which he ultimately succumbed.
Sam could be a good Indian serving the greater tribe as reflected in his many years as a member of the CSNS Coding and Reimbursement Committee and the AANS/CNS Washington Committee, but his collegial interactive skills caused this cream of a man to rise to many positions of leadership. In addition to achieving Professor rank at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Dallas, where he chose to conduct his academic career, he also served as chairman of the AANS/CNS Joint Section on Pain, as President of the American Neuromodulation Society and the American Academy of Pain Medicine as well as the Texas Pain Society and the Texas Association of Neurological Surgeons. Sam will be best remembered by the Council of State Neurosurgical Societies for his many reports on the activities of the CPT Coding Sub-Committee of the AANS/CNS which he chaired from 2000 until his untimely death. His knowledge of the ins and outs of coding and his endeavors to secure fair and accurate compensation for what neurosurgeons do will forever endear him to his colleagues who, whether in private practice or academics, must keep the business of neurosurgery in the black. Looking back at the life and achievements of this extraordinary man with a ready smile, indefatigable spirit and ever present twinkle in his eyes, the decision of the CSNS to bestow the Leibrock Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 was an accolade easily given to a neurosurgeon who was a better person than most of us. Samuel J. Hassenbusch, M.D., Ph.D 1954-2008 |