1950s

Jarrold Patterson (M.D. 1958, Residency 1962), a retired dermatologist from Bloomfield Hills, has put together a lecture on DNA after being frequently questioned about the topic. The lecture is directed at lay people and is designed to help them better understand DNA, how it works and controversies surrounding it. Patterson can be reached at jpep@webtv.net.

1960s

A. Arthur Mancini and James G. Ravin

A. Arthur Mancini (M.D. 1966), a urologist, was recently inaugurated as president of the Academy of Medicine of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio, which celebrates its 152nd year in 2003. James G. Ravin (M.D. 1968, Residency 1974), an ophthalmologist, was elected as vice president .

1970s

Daniel J. Reddy (M.D. 1973), division head of Vascular Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital, was awarded the D. Emerick and Eve Szilagyi Chair in Vascular Surgery last fall. The endowed chair, named for an internationally recognized pioneer of vascular surgery, will provide funds to support staff, projects and equipment that can advance vascular surgery at the hospital. Reddy joined Henry Ford Hospital in 1979 and was appointed to his current position in 1997.

Paul E. Weiss (M.D. 1973) was inducted as a fellow in the American College of Radiology at the College’s annual meeting in Miami last year. He is an attending radiologist at four New York hospitals (Rochester General, Meyers Community, Newark-Wayne Community and Lakeside Memorial), as well as a clinical associate professor at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.

Charles Gershon, M.D. (Residency 1979), has written a novel, The Hydrangea People (Mose Cade Books, 2002), a story about a small-town man whose simple life becomes complicated when he enters into a business venture with his physician friends and some big-city high rollers and becomes involved with the mysterious German beauty, Rosvita. Gershon lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with his wife and two children and can be reached at crgershon@mindspring.com. Find out more about The Hydrangea People at www.charlesgershon.com.

1980s

Carl Reading (M.D. 1980) was inducted as a fellow in the American College of Radiology at the College’s annual meeting in Miami last year. He is a professor of radiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

1990s

Mihir Meghani (M.D. 1997) of Fremont, California, lectured on nuclear disaster and radiation effects at India’s first international conference on emergency medicine and disaster preparedness. The conference was held October 25-27, 2002, in Hyderabad and was attended by 700 delegates from more than 10 countries.

George Morley is Among the Recipients of the 2002 Distinguished Alumni Service Award

George W. Morley (M.D. 1949, Residency 1954) was the recipient of a 2002 Distinguished Alumni Service Award from the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan. The Award, given annually to a group of alumni who have distinguished themselves “by reason of services performed on behalf of the University of Michigan, or in connection with its organized alumni activities,” is the highest honor the Alumni Association can bestow upon alumni/ae on behalf of the University. Morley was recognized specifically for his involvement with and cultivation of the Medical Center Alumni Society, and for his service as director of the U-M Gynecology Oncology Service, which he established in 1964.

Cold Comfort
Alaskan home inspires William Mills

Throughout a long career in medicine, William J. Mills Jr., M.D. (Residency 1954), has embraced adventure, service to others, and a profound love of the outdoors. He worked on a tugboat to support his studies in zoology, anthropology and pre-med at U-C Berkeley. As a WWII motor torpedo boat captain in the South Pacific, he lost a leg during a salvage accident — but saved his boat and the lives of his crew. As a young doctor working in Alaska’s rugged backcountry, he performed an appendectomy on a kitchen table and treated exposure injuries of fishermen working on the Bering Sea — an experience that led to Mills’ current standing as a world expert in thermal injury.

“I developed the ‘Alaskan Method’ — a system of care now used around the world in the treatment of frostbite and hypothermia,” Mills recalls from his home in Anchorage, Alaska, where he began a private practice in orthopedics in the 1950s. Since then, Mills has published more than 100 papers on the subject, established a high-altitude laboratory on Mount McKinley, and directed the Center for High Altitude Health Research at the University of Alaska.

And as a consultant to NASA, Mills helped heal an astronaut. “When F. Story Musgrave was preparing to make a trip to repair the Hubble telescope, he was practicing in a vacuum chamber in Houston,” says Mills. “He was accidentally exposed to temperatures of 140 degrees below zero. He froze his fingers and NASA sent him to me. He ended up with no tissue loss and all his digits.”

Mills and his wife, Elaine, who graduated from Michigan in 1951 with a degree in education, have raised seven children in the Alaska that they love, where Mills pursues a hobby as a wildlife photographer. And the winters? “Well,” says Mills, “in the winter, it’s cool....”

Lives Lived

Arnold J. Kiessling (M.D. 1952), 77, died on November 8, 2002. Following his graduation from the U-M Medical School, Kiessling continued his medical training at Providence Hospital in Detroit, then went on to practice family medicine in Jackson for 36 years. After retiring, he enjoyed volunteering at a medical clinic in Jackson and as a math and reading tutor. Kiessling was a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians. He was also a member of the Knights of Columbus Council No. 609 and the Downtown Kiwanis, and served as an usher at Queens Church.

Don Marshall (M.D. 1931, Residency 1935) died on Thursday, December 5, 2002. At 97, Marshall was the U-M Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences’oldest living alumnus. Marshall headed the Department of Ophthalmology at Geisinger Hospital in Danville, Pennsylvania, from 1937-39, then moved to Kalamazoo to join a private ophthalmology practice, where he remained until his retirement in 1981. Among his other achievements, Marshall was president of the Kalamazoo Academy of Medicine in 1956 and published two dozen scientific articles, including a report on a medical condition now known as Marshall Syndrome.

William Purfield (M.D. 1941), 89, died of cancer on October 23, 2002. Purfield received much of his early medical training as a member of the Air Force, including three years on a U-M-run base in Darby, England. He returned to the U.S. in 1946 and practiced in Clinton for nine years, then moved to Manchester, where he practiced until he retired in 1985 at age 72. He was also on the medical staff at Herrick Hospital in Tecumseh, served as the local medical examiner, and was active with local schools.

William Stanley Smith (M.D. 1943, Residency 1950), 84, died Sunday, December 1, 2002. While on the faculty of Ohio State University in the Division of Orthopedic Surgery from 1950-61, he received the Kappa Delta Award, the most prestigious prize for orthopedic surgery research. In 1961 he was appointed professor and head of the Section of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Michigan, where he served until retiring in 1985. Memorial contributions may be sent to the U-M Medical Development Office, 301 E. Liberty, Suite 300, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2251.

Allan Weiner (M.D. 1953) died at University Hospital on December 6, 2002, following a long battle with multiple myeloma. Weiner was a founding member of Middlebelt Pediatrics, one of the largest pediatric practices in metro Detroit. He is survived by his wife, Betty; four children, Howard Weiner (M.D. 1991), Daniel Weiner (M.D. 1993), Adam Weiner and Miriam Weiner; and three grandchildren.

—WH