Norwich — Dr. Vincent P. Laudone, chief of surgery at the Josie Robertson Surgery Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and a 1973 graduate of Norwich Free Academy, was named Monday as the 2022 Norwich Native Son Award recipient.

The Norwich Rotary Clubs, and the Woman’s City Club announced Laudone as the 53rd recipient of the award that recognizes outstanding achievements outside the local area of a person who grew up in Norwich. This year marks the return of the annual tradition after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The award will be presented at a luncheon at the Holiday Inn Norwich at noon June 1. For tickets, visit www.norwichrotaryevents.org/tickets. For the complete history of the event, visit www.norwichrotaryevents.org/native.

Laudone, 66, said Monday he was "very pleasantly surprised and honored" to be named Native Son and to be in the company of the long list of past recipients.

Laudone grew up on Huntington Lane in historic Norwichtown, son of Vincent A. Laudone, a World War II veteran and longtime Norwich attorney, and Wanda Zdanowski. His older sister, Anita Laudone-Harley is a retired attorney and now a full-time artist. Young Vincent was a standout swimmer at NFA.

He married the girl next door, Katharyn Margaret Glenney. The couple has been married for 43 years and have three daughters, a son and two grandsons. 

Laudone earned his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College and then went to Georgetown Medical School. He specialized in urology and in 1988 moved to Glastonbury and joined a urology group at Hartford Hospital.

An early skeptic of robotic surgery, Laudone soon mastered the emerging technology developed in 2000 by the firm, Intuitive Surgical in Sunnydale, Calif. In 2003, he said, about 0.05% of prostate surgeries were done with robotics. Now, it's more than 90%.

More a mechanical device than a robot, the 6-foot tall machine with four arms stands over the patient, and the surgeon maneuvers it, "like a musical instrument," from a corner of the room, he said.

"It allows a little bit finer movements with better visualization to do a little less invasive operation," Laudone said.

In 2008, Laudone was recruited by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute to develop the center’s robotics program and has been commuting weekly from his Glastonbury home for the last 14 years.

Laudone developed the Josie Robertson Surgery Center at MSK and is chief of surgery. He also is a professor of urology at Cornell Medical School. He has performed more than 5,000 robotic prostatectomies and is sought for his expertise from throughout the country.

He was named one of the Best Doctors in America from 2001 to 2011 and a Top Doctors in Connecticut from 2005 to 2011.

“He was one of those kids that younger kids, including myself, looked up to and respected,” Dr. Mark Tramontozzi, who nominated Laudone for the award, said in an email response to a request for comments on why he nominated Laudone for the award.

Tramontozzi said he was moved to nominate Laudone, because despite Laudone’s busy schedule and celebrity clientele, he never hesitates to respond to those who seek his expertise from his old hometown.

“I know of several, and I am sure I do not know all, from the Norwich area who have reached out for his expertise, and he was always more than accommodating,” Tramontozzi wrote in the email.

Laudone said he has dedicated 44 years of his life to medicine and performing surgery.

"It has been a wonderful career based on science but focused on people," Laudone said.

c.bessette@theday.com