Murray was told that attempting to transplant organs would waste his time and ruin his reputation. But he persevered, driven by his desire to serve. "Any chance of helping was worth working for," he says.

He cites the most significant moments of his career not as the celebrated transplant in 1954 or his being awarded the Nobel Prize, but instead treating children with congenital facial deformities and serving in the U.S. Army.

He lauds the courage displayed by the soldiers in World War II. "It was a tremendous privilege to take care of them," he says.

Murray says that the single most important characteristic of a doctor, that which has enabled him to succeed in the face of frustration and failure, is caring about people.

"I think you've got to have a love of patients, a love of people," he says. "The greatest satisfaction I've gotten is getting people well."

When he received the Nobel Prize in 1990, Murray said that his only wish would be to have ten more lives to live. Each life, he explained, would be spent in pursuit of a different career, such as genetics or music or writing.

Upon completion of his list, one life remained free. "That is because," he said, "I'd like to keep open the option for another lifetime as a surgeon-scientist."