"In connection with my pastimes of model building and work with machinery I have become more impressed with the superiority of the human machine over anything similar that man could make.."

— John Kingsley Lattimer in his application to medical school, Feb. 9, 1934

Dr. Lattimer, who was born 100 years ago (Oct. 14, 1914), was a human who racked up superior accomplishments inside P&S and out. The 1938 P&S graduate established the field of pediatric urology and spent many years on the faculty, including 25 years as chair of urology. He also was known for his ballistics expertise and historical collections: He examined President John Kennedy’s autopsy materials, he had a role in the Nuremberg trials, and he collected materials from the Lincoln assassination. He also was an athlete, competing in track and field during his Columbia College years and in the GI Olympics. When he died in 2007, the New York Times obituary headline said it all: “John K. Lattimer, Urologist of Varied Expertise, Dies at 92.”

Click here to read the magazine’s Spring 2000 profile, “John K. Lattimer: Urologist, Historian, Collector, Sleuth—A Medical Man for All Seasons.”