A Celebration of Life for Jovan Milutinovic, MD, husband of Mary Milutinovic will be held in the J. HENRY STUHR, INC. MOUNT PLEASANT CHAPEL, 1494 Mathis Ferry Road, on Sunday, September 15, 2013 at 2:00 pm. Interment will be private. The family will receive friends at the Chapel on Sunday from 12:30 pm until the time of the service.
Dr. Jovan Milutinovic was born in 1929 in Serbia. He obtained his M.D. at the University of Zagreb Medical School in 1953. At that time, he was the youngest person to graduate from medical school in the former Yugoslavia.
Dr. Milutinovic immigrated to the US in 1969, and by 1972 had completed a fellowship in Nephrology at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. He began a prestigious academic and medical career as an instructor at UW, and in 1974 was promoted to Assistant Professor of Medicine.
He moved to West Virginia University in 1977, and assumed the position of Nephrology Division Director, and was eventually promoted to the rank of Professor of Medicine. In 1981 he came to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston where he spent most of his career. He would eventually retire from this institution as an emeritus Professor of Medicine. At MUSC, Dr. Milutinovic was recognized as an outstanding physician, dedicated teacher, and accomplished scientist. He authored 44 scientific papers.
Dr. Milutinovic was one of the world's pioneers in the field of hemodialysis. When Dr. Belding Scribner started treatment of patients with end stage renal disease with dialysis, Jovan was one of his first collaborators. Their work established treatment principles and methodology that is still in use more than 40 years later. Hemodialysis today maintains life for more than half a million people in the United States alone. Dr Milutinovic's expertise also included major contributions in the diagnosis and treatment of polycystic kidney disease.
Beyond his contributions to medicine and his dedication to his patients, Jovan will be most remembered as a loving family man and friend. He will always be remembered for his desire to see the lives of others improve through hard work, education, and health conscious decisions.
He is survived by a loving wife, 3 children, two grandchildren, and a sister.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to facilitate the research of Dr. John Arthur. Checks may be made payable to the MUSC Foundation Kidney Disease Research Fund.