In Memoriam

Malcolm Bagshaw, M.D. ’50, one of the world’s foremost experts in radiation therapy, most notably in developing new applications of radiation therapy for prostate cancer, died on September 18 at home in Palo Alto, Calif., after an extended illness. He was 86. Bagshaw was the former chair of the departments of radiology and radiation oncology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in radiology at the University of Michigan and joined Stanford in 1956. He was appointed head of the Division of Radiation Therapy in 1960 and became chair of the Department of Radiology in 1972. Bagshaw received the 1996 Charles F. Kettering Prize, awarded by the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, for his role in improving prostate cancer treatment.

John D. Baxter, M.D. ’66, HS ’68, whose early work in cloning and recombinant protein production provided the basis of the biotechnology industry, died of cancer on October 5 in San Francisco. A native of Lexington, Ky., he was 71. At the time of his death Baxter was director of the Genomic Medicine Program of the Methodist Hospital Research Institute in Houston. By cloning the growth hormone family of genes and through subsequent studies, Baxter made major contributions to the understanding of growth and development, and established a model for advances in developmental biology. That model led to the creation of the first synthetic drug to stimulate growth in children of abnormally short stature and the discovery of drugs to increase milk production in dairy cows. Baxter and a colleague then became the first to show what a nuclear receptor looks like when it is binding to a hormone—a breakthrough that led to new structures in drug design. Baxter was named to the National Academy of Sciences in 2003. He also received an Outstanding Investigator Award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Harold O. Conn, M.D., FW ’53, HS ’56, a world-renowned hepatologist, author, and pioneer in the basic understanding and treatment of advanced liver disease, died on October 9 in Pompano Beach, Fla. He was 85. Conn, a 50-year faculty member at the School of Medicine, wrote more than 400 peer-reviewed articles about hepatic encephalopathy. One of Conn’s greatest professional accomplishments was The Histopathology of the Liver, published in 1993, which he wrote with Gerald Klatskin, M.D. It was his last major project until he contracted normal-pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). Erroneously diagnosed for 10 years as Parkinson disease, NPH robbed him of his ability to walk or think clearly until the correct diagnosis was made. Following a remarkable remission after brain surgery at age 78, Conn became a spokesperson for NPH awareness.

We have also received word of the passing of the following alumni and faculty:

Mary North Allen, Med ’45, a photographer, died on November 26 at her home in Madison, Wis. Allen was 92. After her graduation from Mills College in 1941, she attended Yale School of Medicine for one year.

Carl E. Andrews, M.D. ’44, died on September 12 in Fort Pierce, Fla. He was 91. Andrews was a retired general surgeon who had practiced in West Palm Beach for 33 years.

Graeme C. Baker, M.D., HS ’76, a plastic surgeon, died on October 2 in Erie, Pa. He was 73.

Dennis P. Bekeny, M.D., HS ’72, of Hamden, Conn., died on October 6 at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale after a brief illness. Bekeny was a pediatrician in the New Haven area for 36 years.

Donald Smythe Childs Jr., M.D. ’42, a retired radiologist, died on December 10 in Rochester, Minn. He was 95.

George M. Goza Jr., M.D., HS ’56, died at home on October 19 in Rice Lake, Wis. A retired internist and cardiologist, Goza was 85.

Robert H. Groves Sr., M.D. ’56, died on October 31 in Rochester, Mich. He was 81.

James W. Innes, M.D., HS ’63, FW ’64, died on August 29 in Riverside, Conn. He was 79. Innes practiced internal medicine and gastroenterology.

William H.O. Kiekhofer, M.D. ’51, a retired associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, died on October 13 in Providence, R.I. He was 89.

Ruth H. Kotler, PA-C ’88, a neurosurgical physician associate at the University of Connecticut Medical Center, died at home in Avon, Conn. on November 5 of breast cancer. She was 47.

Cheryl E. Lemmons, M.D., HS ’87, a surgeon and geriatric psychiatrist, died in Onset, Mass., on August 6 after a short illness.

Francis B. Maraist, M.D., HS ’55, a retired general surgeon, died on November 1 in Tequesta, Fla. He was 85.

Robert N. Margolis, M.D., HS ’65, associate clinical professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation, died in Woodbridge, Conn., on September 21. He was 78. Margolis served as associate chief of orthopaedics at the Hospital of Saint Raphael, chief of orthopaedics at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System in West Haven.

Nessan McCann, M.D., HS ’66, died on September 14 in St. Augustine, Fla. He was 88.

K. Alvin Merendino, M.D. ’40, Ph.D., a retired professor of surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center, died on September 10 in Seattle. He was 96. Merendino performed the first open-heart surgery on the West Coast and helped establish a renal transplantation program in Seattle.

Richard Neubauer, M.D. ’76, died on October 31 at his home in Stuckagain, Alaska, from complications of primary amyloidosis. Neubauer was 61. Born in Queens, N.Y., he served in the Indian Health Service in Wyoming before moving to Alaska.

John A. Ogden, M.D. ’68, HS ’73, died in Atlanta on August 31. He was 68. Ogden served as chair of orthopaedics at the School of Medicine from 1978 to 1983 and later as clinical professor of orthopaedics at Emory University.

Thomas R. Pellegrino, M.Phil. ’71, M.D., HS ’77, died at home in Hampton Roads, Va., on November 17 after a short illness. At the time of his death, Pellegrino was associate dean for education at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

Jeffrey Robbins, M.D., HS ’68, a retired otolaryngologist, died on July 13 at his home in Bristol, Tenn. He was 69.

Ben A. Shaver Jr., M.D. ’56, a retired pediatrician, died on November 23 in Potomac, Md. He was 81.

Don H. Smith, M.D. ’70, a prison psychiatrist, died on October 12 in Port Washington, Wis. He was 66. Smith was a junior research fellow in the Yale Arbovirus Research Unit during his years at the School of Medicine.

Martin B. Vita, M.D. ’50, a retired pediatrician, died on September 18 in New York City. He was 83.

Douglas A. Wegner, M.D., HS ’94, a hand surgeon, died suddenly of a heart attack on August 5 in Tucson, Ariz., while running in Sabino Canyon with his son. He was 53.

Send obituary notices to Claire M. Bessinger, Yale Medicine, 1 Church Street, Suite 300, New Haven, CT 06510, or via e-mail to claire.bessinger@yale.edu