Alums honored for service to medicine and to Yale

At this year’s reunion Distinguished Alumni Service Awards went to Harry C. Miller Jr., M.D. ’54, Carol Amick, M.D. ’59, and Robert Amick, M.D. ’59.

All three were honored for their service to the School of Medicine and the medical profession. The awards, presented annually at reunion, were given by Dean Robert J. Alpern, M.D., Ensign Professor of Medicine, and Susan Ryu Gaynon, M.D. ’76, president of the Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine.

Miller’s service began in medical school, where he helped direct his class’ first-year show. After an internship at Duke in surgery, Miller served two years in the Army Medical Corps, then completed a urology residency at the University of Rochester. He taught there and at the University of Oklahoma before moving to George Washington University. During his 22 years there he served as professor and chair of urology, and introduced a thesis requirement based on the Yale system. Also in the Yale tradition, the citation stated that he “mentored trainees by treating them as adults.” Miller took on leadership roles in medicine as well, serving as president of the American Association of Clinical Urologists.

In 1998, after years as an Association of Yale Alumni representative, he became class agent. Working with the late Arthur Crovatto, M.D. ’54, his former roommate, Miller compiled a newsletter to keep the class abreast of each other’s activities. As reunion gift chair, he reminded them to donate to the medical school and reached out to classmates’ bereaved spouses.

The Amicks met and married as medical students. Carol trained in pathology at the University of Cincinnati, and Bob trained there in pathology and internal medicine. After two years in the Army in Arkansas, they moved to Boston, where Carol completed her residency and began a career in hospital pathology. She became director of laboratory service and chief of pathology at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital. Bob trained in adult chemotherapy before transitioning to hospital administration. He spent 31 years at the Boston VA, including five years as chief of staff. He also earned a Master of Science in Management degree at MIT. And, they raised four children, including one Yalie. (The Amicks could not attend reunion due to health reasons.)

Carol has served on the executive committee of the Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine and has been delegate to the Association of Yale Alumni; she has also volunteered on the Yale Day of Service. She and Robert have shown interest in the changing needs of medical students, and provided financial support for academic appointments and student scholarships. Carol values the Yale system’s emphasis on self-education and clinical medicine, while Bob recalls its mutually supportive atmosphere.