This fund, established in 1970 by Dr. Gerold L. Schiebler, Distinguished Service Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Florida, honors Francisco Hernandez, M.D., the first pediatric cardiologist to practice in Florida.

Dr. Hernandez was a pioneer of pediatric cardiology, whose innovations continue to help a population of children with heart disease who had never previously had a chance to survive.

Born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, Dr. Hernandez came to the United States for college, earning his Bachelors and M.D. degrees at the Columbia College in New York City. Dr. Hernandez returned to Cuba for his medical internship and served as flight surgeon at the Army General Hospital in Havana. In 1945, he moved to Miami to begin work at the National Children’s Cardiac Home (NCCH), where he cared for children with rheumatic fever. Dr. Hernandez became the Medical Director of the NCCH in 1951. There he developed a revolutionary cath lab and expanded diagnostic methods for patients with congenital heart defects.

In 1968, Dr. Hernandez became the first University of Miami Berenson Professor of Pediatrics. He served as Director of Pediatric Cardiology until his retirement in 1973. Dr. Hernandez passed away in 1985.