Alumni

1942
Condict Moore, professor of surgery emeritus at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, died Aug. 14, 2014, at age 98. He served as ship’s surgeon and as a psychiatrist in the U.S. Naval Reserve at the Memphis Naval Hospital during World War II. Dr. Moore established one of the first Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project programs in Louisville, where he introduced the use of mammograms. The author of some of the earliest published research on the link between tobacco and cancer, he was a founder and the first director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville, where he taught for more than three decades. Survivors include his wife, Caroline, three daughters, a son, eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

1944
William A. Blodgett, a retired internist, died Dec. 14, 2014. Following World War II he served as a captain in the U.S. Army, where he completed his medical training. He pursued a private practice in Louisville, Ky., for 52 years, was a member of the clinical faculty at the Louisville School of Medicine, and maintained an affiliation with Norton Memorial Hospital, where he served for a time as supervisor of cardiac rehabilitation. Preceded in death by his first wife, Jean, he is survived by his second wife, Louisa “Weasy,” two daughters, two sons, a step-daughter and a step-son, five grandchildren, and two step-grandsons.

1945
L. Dwight Cherry, a retired surgeon, died June 5, 2014, at age 93. He served in the U.S. Naval Reserve. An emeritus associate professor of surgery at the University of Nebraska medical school, Dr. Cherry maintained affiliations with Lincoln General Hospital, St. Elizabeth Community Health Center, and Bryan Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, Neb. He served as president of the Community Blood Bank and the Lancaster County Medical Society and as governor of the American College of Surgeons. He was an accomplished horseman and a farmer in his spare time. Preceded in death by his wife, Ava Lynne, Dr. Cherry is survived by a daughter, a son, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

1946
Michael J. Langan, a retired obstetrician/gynecologist, died Nov. 22, 2014, of complications from a stroke. He pursued his medical studies under the V-12 Program of the U.S. Navy and subsequently served as a lieutenant assigned to the St. Albans Naval Hospital in Queens and, later, to Midway Island in the Pacific. He was recalled to active duty during the Korean conflict. An early proponent of natural childbirth, he championed the Lamaze and Leboyer methods of natural childbirth and encouraged breastfeeding for new mothers. He pursued a solo private ob/gyn practice in Greenwich, Conn., which later became the Brookside Obstetrics & Gynecology Associates. He was a past president of the Westchester Ob/Gyn Society. A devoted alumnus, Dr. Langan served for many years as chair of the Class of 1946 and as an active member of the Alumni Council. He is survived by his wife, Kathleen (Kay), four daughters, two sons, and 12 grandchildren.

Richard P. Keating, a retired internist, died Aug. 3, 2014, at age 91. Dr. Keating served in the U.S. Army, stationed at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, where he was among the first researchers to work with radioisotopes. For more than three decades he pursued a private practice, specializing in thyroid disorders, in Ridgewood, N.J. He maintained associations with Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and St. Luke’s Hospital in New York, where he directed the thyroid clinic. A past president of the Bergen County Medical Society, he belonged to a dynasty of family members who attended P&S, including his father, John H. Keating Sr.’1917, brothers, John H. Keating Jr.’43 and Paul Keating’54, and son, David P. Keating’90. In retirement, Dr. Keating served as chairman and selectman of Truro, Mass., and trustee of the Truro Public Library and Outer Cape Health Services. He is survived by his wife, Barbara, five children, 11 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

McCoy Pitt, a retired obstetrician, died June 22, 2014. Dr. Pitt spent close to four decades in private practice in Decatur, Ala. Of his time at P&S, he fondly recalled an elective in anesthesia with the legendary Virginia Apgar’33. “Her keen intellect and great enthusiasm were contagious to everyone,” he wrote. “What she taught me enabled me during my senior year to get a job giving obstetrical anesthesia for night deliveries at PH. … All this kindled my interest in ob/gyn, which is what I have spent my career doing. This great lady ranks right up at the top of all the great physicians that I have known or been associated with.” Dr. Pitt was the first board-certified obstetrician in Morgan County, Ala. He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps following World War II, stationed in Takasaki, Japan. He was president of the Decatur Civitas, a board member of the Hospice for the Valley, and a member of the Arts and Sciences Leadership Board at the University of Alabama. He is survived by his wife, Ann, a daughter, a son, two granddaughters, four grandsons, and three great-grandchildren.

Louis J. Vorhaus, a retired internist and emeritus member of the faculty in the Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, died Oct. 18, 2014. Critical of managed care as a medical model, Dr. Vorhaus once wrote on an alumni reunion questionnaire: “Physicians had a sliding scale. The wealthiest patients paid the most, the poorest paid least, the indigent paid nothing. The system worked well and there was no third party with its hand in your pocket.” Preceded in death by his wife, Natalie, he is survived by his partner, Lillian Rifkin, three daughters, a son, and 12 grandchildren.

1948
Ralph Lusskin, a retired orthopedist, died Jan. 17, 2015. He served as an orthopedic surgeon on the U.S.S. Relief during the Korean conflict, retiring from the U.S. Naval Reserve as lieutenant commander. An emeritus clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at NYU School of Medicine and for many years chief of orthopedic surgery at the New York VA Hospital, he pursued research in adult spastic deformities, spinal cord disease management, silicone implantation in skeletal surgery, and computer management of orthopedic clinical information. Dr. Lusskin is survived by his wife, Phyllis, two daughters, and four grandchildren.

1950
Aimee Diefenbach Larkin, a retired allergist, died Jan. 13, 2015. Dr. Larkin served as chief of the Department of Allergy and Immunology at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, N.Y. When not attending to the sneezes, itchy eyes, and other allergy ills of her devoted patients, she enjoyed painting, photography, reading, knitting, and doing the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle. Preceded in death by a son, she is survived by her husband, Philip C. Larkin, MD, two daughters, four sons, and 17 grandchildren.

1951
Stephen M. Krane, a renowned rheumatologist known for his study of the organization, structure, and remodeling of skeletal and other connective tissue, died Jan. 19, 2015. His interest in metabolic bone diseases began as a medical student at P&S. The Persis, Cyrus and Marlow B. Harrison Professor of Medicine and Master of the Walter Bradford Cannon Society at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Krane was a longtime chief of rheumatology at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he undertook studies on biomineralization and the potential rate of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. He also did important work on pathogenesis of ECM destruction and joint remodeling in rheumatoid arthritis and was co-editor (with the late Louis V. Avioli) of three editions of the textbook “Metabolic Bone Diseases and Clinical Related Disorders.” Throughout much of his career he directed the clinical program in rheumatology at MGH and was active in clinical teaching. Dr. Krane was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of the 1990 Paul Klemperer Award of the New York Academy of Medicine, the 1996 Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievements in Medicine of the P&S Alumni Association, and a 2003 Docteur Honoris Causa from the University of Paris VII-Denis Diderot. Dr. Krane was a loyal alumnus and generous supporter of the medical school. Preceded in death by his wife, Cynthia, he is survived by four sons and eight grandchildren.

1952
Retired urologist Eugene Speicher died Oct. 10, 2014. He was 92. Passionate about medicine and music, he left a generous bequest in his will to establish a named scholarship at P&S “to be awarded to a future doctor who has a love and talent for classical and/or jazz music and can play it.” Preceded in death by his wife, Genevieve, a 1947 graduate of the Columbia School of Nursing, he is survived by three children, 10 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.

1953
Edgar M. Housepian, professor emeritus of clinical neurological surgery at P&S, co-founder of the Fund for Armenian Relief, and devoted P&S alumnus, died Nov. 14, 2014. Following a tour of duty as an aviator in the Navy Air Corps, he entered P&S, where the daring work then being done in neurosurgery captured his imagination. Subsequently honing his skills at the Neurological Institute, he went on to join the clinical faculty in the Department of Neurological Surgery and played an important role in the early development of the field of functional stereotactic surgery. At P&S, he worked with his mentor, the late J. Lawrence Pool’32, on early surgical procedures to treat Parkinson’s disease and other functional neurological disorders. Challenged by Dr. Pool to be innovative, Dr. Housepian developed a universal needle holder and a bipolar grid that greatly improved accuracy. In addition, he and the late Malcolm Carpenter collaborated on the first development of coordinates for the globus pallidus by brain measurements, with results confirmed by stereotactic biopsy studies. Dr. Housepian also collaborated with Vernon Mark at Harvard in the design of another stereotactic instrument that increased the effectiveness of thalamic stimulation and the accuracy of thalamotomy. Working with yet another colleague, Dominic Purpura, Dr. Housepian participated in landmark research in electrophysiology of the brain in animal models, findings that he was able to translate into clinical studies. He is also noted for the success of his operations on orbital tumors, cancers of the optic nerve, for which he established a widely followed protocol. “One of the reasons I’ve loved being at Columbia,” he once said, “is that the institution allowed me to be truly creative.” He repaid the kindness in 1994, playing an instrumental role in establishing the J. Lawrence Pool’32 Professorship in Neurological Surgery. Another cause to which he committed himself heart and soul was the medical response in the wake of the 1988 Armenian earthquake. Spearheading relief efforts, he helped organize the gathering and shipment of medical supplies and equipment and played a leading role in coordinating postgraduate medical educational exchange with Armenia. He received the 2002 Humanitarian Award of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, an honorary doctorate from the Academy of Sciences of Armenia, and the Gold Foundation Humanitarian Award at P&S, where a professorship was endowed in his name. He was a loyal and active P&S alumnus, longtime class chairman, alumni director, an active member of many committees, some of which he chaired, and staunch supporter of the medical school. In 1990 he received the Gold Medal for Service to P&S and its Alumni Association. Following his retirement from teaching and practice in 1997, he was appointed special adviser to the dean for international affiliations. Preceded in death by his wife, Marion, he is survived by a daughter, two sons, including David Hovsepian’86, and a grandson.

Lewis Kurke, a retired psychiatrist who specialized in the treatment of substance abuse and traumatic stress, died May 29, 2013. In the course of his long career he provided psychiatric and psychopharmacological care to mentally ill inmates for the Arizona Department of Corrections and psychiatric care to troops at Cutler Army Hospital in Fort Devens, Mass., Landstuhl Army Medical Center and U.S. Army Hospital in Bad Cannstatt in Germany. A former lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona, he served a term as president of the Governing Council of the Psychiatric Services Section of the American Hospital Association. Before relocating out west, he taught as associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and served a term as president of the Suffolk branch of the American Psychiatric Association. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, three daughters, and a son.

Ernest Vandeweghe (Read "Remembering Ernie"), a star basketball player for the New York Knicks who juggled Knicks practice with medical studies, died Nov. 9, 2014. He was 86. He retired from professional basketball after six seasons to pursue a career in pediatrics. His was a family of athletes: His brother-in-law, Mel Hutchins, also played for the Knicks. A daughter, Tauna, was a star Olympic swimmer. One son, Kiki, also played for the Knicks. Another son, Bruk, won a bronze medal in beach volleyball at the 1994 Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia. A granddaughter, Heather Shannon, was captain of the national women’s polo team. Another granddaughter, Coco Vandeweghe, competed as a member of the women’s pro tennis tour. He was preceded in death by his wife, Colleen, Miss America of 1952. After leaving professional sports he moved to Los Angeles, where he opened a private practice in pediatrics, joined the UCLA faculty as an associate clinical professor of pediatrics, adolescent and sports medicine, and served for a time as team physician and team consultant to the Los Angeles Lakers. He was appointed by President Gerald Ford as a member of a commission to enhance America’s amateur athletic presence in international sports. A New York Times obituary quoted from “The New York Knicks,” a 50th anniversary history of the team, in which Dr. Vandeweghe addressed the unusual pairing of a professional sports career and medical school: “People asked me why I would try to play ball while going to med school. Well, I was not much of a social butterfly. My social event was to turn up in Madison Square Garden in a Knicks uniform. It was what I preferred to drinking with the boys or going to the movies.”

1954
Louis A. Healey, a retired internist specializing in rheumatology, died Dec. 28, 2014. He served as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, based at Ford Ord in California. Dr. Healey was a clinical professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he practiced for many years and headed the arthritis and immunology section at the multispecialty Virginia Mason Clinic. He served as a past president of the Seattle Academy of Internal Medicine and was a recipient of the 1991 Distinguished Rheumatologist Award of the American College of Rheumatology. Preceded in death by his wife, Mary, Dr. Healey is survived by three daughters, three sons, and nine grandchildren.

John H. Phillips, a retired hematologist-oncologist and former member of the clinical faculty in the Department of Medicine at Washington State University, died July 15, 2014. A former director of medical education at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, Wash., past president of the Spokane unit of the American Cancer Society, and former president of the Spokane Society of Internal Medicine, he retired after many years of private practice to live and work on a sailboat, spending half of his year in Mexico and the other half in New Mexico. Dr. Phillips served as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, four children, and five grandchildren.

Robert T. Pottenger, a retired allergist and immunologist, died May 2, 2014.

He served in the U.S. Air Force and pursued a private allergy practice for more than three decades in Pasadena, Calif., before retiring to Minden, Nev. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ann, and is survived by seven children and 13 grandchildren.

Herbert Wohl, a retired hematologist-oncologist and former member of the Department of Medicine faculty at UCLA, died Sept. 23, 2014, of Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia. He was 86. He served for many years as chief of hematology/oncology at La Jolla VA Hospital in La Jolla, Calif. Survivors include his wife, Audrey, two daughters, and a son.

1955
Peter D. Westerhoff, a retired otolaryngologist, died July 8, 2014. He was 88. He served in the 45th Division of the U.S. Army’s 157th Regiment during World War II, earning a Bronze Star. Dr. Westerhoff took over his father’s family practice in Midland Park, N.J., and spent more than two decades in the practice before joining the medical department at IBM in Franklin Lakes, N.J. Preceded in death by his first wife, Helen, and his second wife, Delia, he is survived by six children, 12 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

1956
Ralph L. Gentile, a retired surgeon, died Jan. 3, 2015. He pursued a private surgical practice for more than 50 years in the Bronx. He was a former governor of the American College of Surgeons. Preceded in death by his wife, Teresa, he is survived by a daughter, two sons, and four grandchildren.

Robert L. Goodale, a retired surgeon and pioneer in minimally invasive surgical procedures, died of cancer July 17, 2014. He was 84. Dr. Goodale, who also held a PhD degree in physiology from the University of Minnesota, was the founding director of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Endoscopy and helped introduce laparoscopic technology for surgery. Also a philanthropist, Dr. Goodale and his wife, Katherine, who survives him, endowed a chair in minimally invasive surgery at the University of Minnesota and also contributed to the arts. His honors included the H. Diehl Award and Surgical Alumnus of the Year Award from the University of Minnesota. He is also survived by three daughters and a son.

Jaroslav F. “Jerry” Hulka, a retired obstetrician/gynecologist, died Nov. 24, 2014, at age 84. He was a member of the faculty of the medical school and the public health school at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and he also pursued research at the Carolina Population Center. A past president of the American Association of Gynecological Laparoscopists and chair of the National Medical Committee of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Dr. Hulka is best known for having developed the Hulka Clip, a safe form of birth control used by millions of women, and for initiating the use of laparoscopy at UNC. He wrote “Textbook of Laparoscopy,” issued in three editions. Also an accomplished musician, he played French horn in the Doctors Orchestra in New York, McKeesport Orchestra in Pennsylvania, and the Village Orchestra, later renamed Chapel Hill Philharmonia. Survivors include his wife, Barbara, a daughter, two sons, and seven grandchildren.

1957
Richard W. Hyde, a pulmonologist, died Oct. 30, 2014, at age 85. He served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict. Dr. Hyde was a professor of medicine at the University of Rochester. Also interested in architecture, he and his wife, Susan, who survives him, renovated three homes, including an early Italianate Victorian in Philadelphia, a Federal in Scottsville, and an 18th century cottage in Kittery, Maine. The couple also raised Labrador retrievers. Other survivors include a daughter, three sons, and six grandchildren.

John C. Rathe, a retired radiologist, died Dec. 4, 2014. Dr. Rathe co-founded Moline X-Ray, a group practice, and was a member and past president of the staff at Lutheran Hospital in Iowa City. A pilot in his free time, he held twin engine and instrument ratings. After his retirement he volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. Preceded in death by his wife, Fern, he is survived by a daughter, three sons, and seven grandchildren.

1958
Brown W. Dennis, a retired endocrinologist, died Dec. 30, 2014. Following his military service as chief of medicine at McDonald Army Hospital in St. Eustis, Va., he pursued a private practice in endocrinology for more than 50 years, maintaining an affiliation with Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta. Dr. Dennis volunteered with the Salvation Army and the Presbyterian World Mission Board as a medical consultant for missionaries. Among many other honors, he received the 11 Alive Community Service Award, the Institute for Public Service Thomas Jefferson Award, the Medical Association of Atlanta Aven Cup, the Piedmont Hospital Nicholas E. Davies Community Service Award, and the Salvation Army Exceptional Service Award. After retiring from practice, he volunteered at Salvation Army Clinics and the Free Clinic of the Community Helping Place in Dahlonega, Ga. Survivors include his wife, Jean, two daughters, a son, and nine grandchildren.

Norman L. Kaplan died Nov. 14, 2014. He established a private psychiatric practice in Manhattan in 1963, practicing for more than 40 years. He also served as assistant professor of psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, and assistant attending psychiatrist at the Payne Whitney Clinic. He is survived by his wife, Suzanne, and three daughters.

1959
Frederick A. London, a retired internist, died Dec. 3, 2011. He was passionate about literature, music, and theater. He worked for much of his career with Kaiser Permanente. He is survived by his wife, Trudy, a daughter, and a son.

1960
Walter H. Glinsmann, a retired endocrinologist, died Nov. 21, 2014. He did his military service and training in endocrinology and metabolism at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. For many years he officiated as chief of the Section on Physiological Controls at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the NIH. He subsequently served at the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, advancing to associate director for clinical nutrition. Dr. Glinsmann also worked for the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. Later in his career he founded Glinsmann Inc., applying his expertise as a consultant in evaluating the safety of foods, the development of nutritional products, and food-related claims. In 2002 he was inducted as a Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition. He is survived by his wife, Patsy, two daughters, two sons, and six grandchildren.

1962
John P. Grant, a retired urologist in private practice for more than four decades, died September 15, 2014. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Dr. Grant was a member of the surgical team that performed the first renal transplant at Presbyterian Hospital, now NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia. He volunteered throughout the course of his career at the Hôpital Albert Schweizer in Deschapelles, Haiti. Survivors include his wife, Jane, four children, and 13 grandchildren.

1970
Daniel H. Carmichael, a retired surgeon, died of cancer Dec. 11, 2014. Dr. Carmichael served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, then moved to Oklahoma City to launch a private surgical practice. He was a principal investigator for the NSABP Study Group, served on the Breast Cancer Surgery Committee, and participated in a lumpectomy study that demonstrated the efficacy of breast-conserving surgery. He also served as medical director of AMCARE, an emergency medical care provider in central Oklahoma. Preceded in death by a son, he is survived by his wife, Walta, and two daughters.

Alan D. Tice, an internist and specialist in infectious diseases, died of cancer March 30, 2013. He helped organize the first Infectious Diseases Society of America clinical conference in 1990 and served as the society’s delegate to the American Medical Association House of Delegates. The society honored him in 1996 with its Clinician of the Year Award and in 2012 with the IDSA Society Citation. He was also a founder, then president, of the Infectious Diseases Society of Washington. After 20 years of pursuing a private practice in infectious diseases in Tacoma, Wash., a practice that grew to comprise a dozen physicians, a laboratory, pharmacy, and outpatient infusion services, Dr. Tice moved to Hawaii, where he founded Infections Limited Hawaii. In a reminiscence, a colleague, Dr. Dominic Chow, recalled of his friend: “He would find ways to get his homeless patients medications and champion their desire to find a successful cure for their infections.” He taught on the faculty of the John A. Burns School of Medicine of the University of Hawaii, where he researched staphylococci in the ocean and their role in human infections. He also served as director of Access Care Today, a nonprofit organization supporting education and research in staphylococcal infections, viral hepatitis, outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy, and patient access to medical care. He was the author of more than 80 peer-reviewed articles. He is survived by his wife, Constance, a daughter, and two sons.

1973
Richard B. Heyman, a pediatrician specializing in adolescent medicine and past president of the Cincinnati Pediatric Society, died of nonsmoker’s lung disease Aug. 13, 2014. Dr. Heyman served a term as chairman of the Committee on Substance Abuse of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which honored him with the Adele Dellenbaugh Hofmann Award. He served as a key advocate on former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop’s Advisory Committee on Tobacco Policy and Public Health and helped develop public health recommendations concerning the future of tobacco policy. In his free time Dr. Heyman loved classical music and opera and served on the Board of Directors of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, three sons, and eight grandchildren. The AAP Founders of Adolescent Health Award will be renamed the Richard B. Heyman Award in his memory.

1982
Joseph A. Vita, a professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, senior staff cardiologist at Boston Medical Center, and founding editor of the Journal of the American Heart Association, died of lung cancer Nov. 2, 2014. He was 58. Dr. Vita’s research focused on the causes of arterial blockage and heart attack. American Heart Association president Elliott M. Antman’74 saluted him as “the quintessential scientist.” He had previously served as chief of medical services at the VA Boston Healthcare System. He was the author or co-author of more than 200 peer-reviewed articles. A committed educator, Dr. Vita was one of the first recipients of the Robert Dawson Evans Research Mentorship Award. In his free time he loved to sail on the family boat, La Bella Vita. He is survived by his wife, Gina, a daughter, and a son.

Other alumni deaths
Abraham Horvitz’36
James S. Marshall III’48
G. Douglas Talbott’49
Clark Collins’51
Joseph E. Mackie’54
Martin Wohl’57