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Chairs / Chiefs Trivia

Discoveries / Inventions

Invented the cranial perforator

George Smith (1916–1964), first chief of neurosurgery at Medical College of Georgia from 1956-1964

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Discoveries / Inventions

Best remembered for his cervical tongs and hydrodynamic theory of syringomyelia

W. James Gardner (1898-1987), chief at Cleveland Clinic from 1929-1962

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Discoveries / Inventions

Developed a retractor commonly used in discectomies

J. Grafton Love (1903-1987), chair at Mayo clinic from 1955-1963

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Discoveries / Inventions

Described an ophthalmologic syndrome and a hemorrhagic classification score

William E. Hunt (1963-1989), chief at Ohio State U. from 1961-1989

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Discoveries / Inventions

Developed a mathematical equation describing blood flow in a saccular brain aneurysm

George M. Austin (1916-2002), former chairman of OHSU from 1958-1967 and first chief at Loma Linda from 1969-1981

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Discoveries / Inventions

Co-discoverer of Dilantin

Tracy J. Putnam (1894-1975), chief at Columbia from 1939-1947

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Discoveries / Inventions

Devised a clamp for the gradual occlusion of the carotid artery

Bertram Selverstone (1917-1993), chief at Tufts from 1951-1970

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Discoveries / Inventions

Co-invented the positron emission tomography (PET) scan

William H. Sweet (1910-2001), chief at MGH from 1961-1977

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Discoveries / Inventions

Developed a device to deliver chemotherapy directly into the brain

Ayub K. Ommaya (1930-2008), 3rd chief of NIH from 1974-1978

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Procedures

Pioneered the use of the microscope in neurosurgery

Theodore Kurze (1922-2002), chief at USC from 1963-1978

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Procedures

Pioneered frontal lobotomies (including on Rosemary Kennedy) with neurologist Walter Freeman

James W. Watts (1904-1994), chief at GWU from 1954-1969

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Procedures

Performed the first embolization of an arteriovenous malformation utilizing methyl methacrylate beads in 1959

Alfred J. Luessenhop (1926-2009), chief at Georgetown from 1964-1993

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Procedures

Performed the first successful removal of a brain tumor in the United States in 1887

William W. Keen (1837-1932) first neurosurgeon at Thomas Jefferson from 1889-1907

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Procedures

Known as the first British pediatric neurosurgeon, the first physician to make a connection between shaking an infant and subsequent brain injury

Norman Guthkelch (1915-2016), interim chair at U. of Arizona in 1987

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Procedures

His bilateral mesial temporal lobectomies on an epileptic patient who then lost the ability to form new memories led to an understanding of the temporal lobes in memory. He also developed dozens of neurosurgical instruments that bear his name

William B. Scoville (1906-1984), first chief of U. of Connecticut from 1939-1968

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Procedures

Led the surgical team to perform the first case where craniopagus twins were separated and one survived

Oscar Sugar (1914-2008), chair at U. of Illinois/Chicago from 1971-1981

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Procedures

Performed successful separation of craniopagus twins

Harold C. Voris, first chief at Loyola, and Cook County

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Procedures

The first American surgeon to successfully treat spina bifida in 1895

Roswell Park (1852-1914), founding chair of surgery at Buffalo from 1883-1914

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Procedures

The first American to successfully operate for simple partial motor epilepsy in the absence of external scar

Roswell Park (1852-1914), founding chair of surgery at Buffalo from 1883-1914

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Procedures

The first American to remove an upper cervical spinal cord tumor

Roswell Park (1852-1914), founding chair of surgery at Buffalo from 1883-1914

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Alternate careers / hobbies

These two neurosurgeons were also accomplished illustrators

Ludwig G. Kempe (1915-2012), chief of Walter Reed from 1966-1972

Harvey W. Cushing (1869-1939), first chief at the Brigham from 1913-1932

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Programs

These four neurosurgeons each led two programs simultaneously

Claude C. Coleman (1879–1953), started programs at MCV (1928-1951) and UVA (1937-1941)

Robert F. Spetzler (1944-), chair at BNI from 1983-2017 and U. of Arizona from 1987-1988

Keith L. Black (1957-), chair at Cedars Sinai from 1997 and co-chair at UC Irvine from 1998-2001

Javed Siddiqi (1962-), chair at Riverside, formerly Arrowhead from 1999 and Desert Regional from 2015-2020

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Programs

This neurosurgeon shares the same name as the institution where he started a program

Temple S. Fay (1895-1963) moved to Temple University in 1929 and established the first full Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery. He was chief from 1930-1943.

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Programs

The first four neurosurgery residency programs approved by the AMA's Council on Medical Education

UCSF, Neurological Institute of New York (Columbia), Strong Memorial and Rochester Municipal Hospital, and Medical College of Virginia

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Deaths

Died of Creutzfeldt Jacob disease

Donald Matson (1913-1969), chief at the Brigham from 1965-1969

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Deaths

Died suddenly in the operating room

Max Peet (1885-1949), founder of neurosurgery at U. of Michigan from 1920-1949

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Deaths

Died of an intracranial hemorrhage

Maitland Baldwin (1918-1970), first chief at NIH from 1953-1970 and second chief at U. of Colorado from 1951-1953 died at work

Eldridge Campbell (1901-1956), first chairman at Albany from 1945-1956

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Deaths

These three heads (or former heads) of neurosurgery at their respective institutions were tragically killed while piloting their planes

George Smith (1916-1964), chief at Medical College of Georgia from 1956-1964

David Cahill (1951-2003) chair at U. of South Florida from 1987-2003

Henry Garretson (1929-2007) former chair at U. of Louisville from 1972-1997

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Deaths

Died from head injury after golf cart accident

Alfred J. Luessenhop (1926-2009), former chair at Georgetown from 1964-1993 and one of the founders of endovascular neurosurgery

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Deaths

Died in a boating accident

Byron M. Bloor (1921-1994), former chair at Loyola from 1970-1977

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Deaths

These four chiefs/chairs died by suicide

Joseph Ransohoff (1915-2001) former chair at NYU from 1962-1993

Harry E. LeFever (1900-1961) chief at Ohio State from 1932-1961

Kenneth Schulman (1929-1981) chair of Montefiore from 1972-1981

William P. Williamson (1916-1967) former chief of U. of Kansas from 1951-1963

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Deaths

Died from a glioblastoma multiforme

M. Stephen Mahaley (1932-1992), former chair at U. of Alabama from 1986-1988

John A. Jane, Sr (1931-2015), former chair at U. of Virginia from 1969-2006

David H. Reynolds (1919-1978), first chair at U. of Miami from 1961-1971

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Neurosurgeons in the Media

Stepfather of Nancy Reagan

Loyal Davis (1896-1982), chief at Northwestern from 1924-1963

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Neurosurgeons in the Media

These two neurosurgeons on opposite coasts were consultants for “Ben Casey” and claimed the show was modeled after them

Theodore Kurze (1922-2002), chief at USC from 1963-1978

Joseph Ransahoff (1915-2001), chairman of NYU from 1962-1993

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Neurosurgeons in the Media

Participated in the care of president John F. Kennedy after his assassination

W. Kemp Clark (1925-2007), first chief at U. of Texas/Southwestern from 1956-1988

Robert G. Grossman (1933-2021), chief at Baylor from 1980-2004

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Neurosurgeons in the Media

Attended to General George Patton after his auto accident in 1945

R. Glen Spurling (1894-1968), chief at Walter Reed from 1942-1944 and at U. of Louisville from 1925-1961

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Neurosurgeons in the Media

This early Swedish-American neurosurgeon from Utah was married to actress Ingrid Bergmann

Petter Lindström (1907-2000), first full-time neurosurgeon at U. of Utah from 1955-1965

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Neurosurgeons in the Media

Was married to Fay Wray, the actress in the original King Kong movie

Sanford F. Rothenberg (1919-1991), former chief at Cedar Sinai (formerly Cedars of Lebanon) from 1961-1967

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Neurosurgeons in the Media

Corrected a congenital myelomeningocele on musician John Mellencamp

Robert Heimburger (1917-2015), first chief at Indiana U. from 1949-1966

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Legacy / Heritage

A descendant and namesake of a President of the United States

John E. Adams (1914-1999), chairman at UCSF from 1957-1968

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Legacy / Heritage

Grandson of Goldman Sachs's founder

Ernest Sachs (1879-1958) first chief at Washington U. from 1911-1946

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Legacy / Heritage

Nephew of a Nobel Laureate who was also the former President of Liberia

Estrada J. Bernard (1960-), chief at UNC from 1997-2004

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Legacy / Heritage

This neurosurgeon’s professional “grandfather” was also his biological father

Ernest Sachs, Jr. first chief at Dartmouth (was trained by Cobb Pilcher, who was trained by Ernest Sachs)

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Legacy / Heritage

These four father-son pairs of neurosurgeons were/are chairs/chiefs at their respective institutions

Ernest Sachs and Ernest Sachs Jr.

Sander Connolly and Sander Connolly Jr.

Griffith Harsh III, and Griffith Harsh IV

John Jane and John Jane Jr

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Legacy / Heritage

These brothers were consecutive chairmen at the same institution

James T. Robertson (1931-2019) and Jon H. Robertson (1946-) chiefs at U. of Tennessee (Semmes-Murphey) from 1973-1995 and 1996-2011, respectively

Legacy / Heritage

The first professor of neurosurgery in the world in 1919

Ernest Sachs, founder at Washington U. dept of neurosurgery, became the first professor of neurological surgery in the world in 1919

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Legacy / Heritage

The first female chair of neurosurgery

Karin Muraszko (1954-), chair at U. of Michigan from 2005-2022

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Legacy / Heritage

The first female interim chief of neurosurgery

Elizabeth Bullitt (1949-), interim chief at U. North Carlina from 1990-1994

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Legacy / Heritage

The first African-American neurosurgeon

Clarence Greene (1901-1957), first chief at Howard University from 1949-1958

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Legacy / Heritage

The first African-American to chair a certified neurosurgery residency program

Lloyd A. Dayes (1929-2022), chief at Loma Linda from 1987-1989

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Legacy / Heritage

The first Asian-American to chair a department

Shelley N. Chou (1924-2001), chair at U. of Minnesota from 1970-1989

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Legacy / Heritage

The first Asian-American woman to chair a department

Linda M. Liau (1967-), chair at UCLA from 2017

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Legacy / Heritage

The first Hispanic chief of neurosurgery

Francisco Garcia-Bengochea (1917-1999), chief at U. of Florida/Gainesville from 1960-1968

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Legacy / Heritage

This chair was one-eighth Cherokee Indian

Charles B. Wilson (1929-2018), chief at LSU-New Orleans from 1961-1963 and at UCSF from 1968-1994

Directing / Observing their own surgery

Instructed his colleagues (with a mirror in hand) as they debrided and repaired his skull fracture

Ira S. Cohen (1887-1957), chair at Mount Sinai from 1932-1950

Directing / Observing their own surgery

Observed his own toe amputation

Harvey W. Cushing (1869-1939), first chief at the Brigham from 1913-1932’

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Alternate careers / hobbies

These former chairs/chiefs became lawyers after a career in NS

Clark C. Watts (1938-2019), chair at U. of Missouri/Columbia from 1976-1991

John C. Kapp (1938-), chair at Suny Buffalo from 1987-1988

John B. Oldershaw (1932-2021), chief at Stroger hospital (Cook County) from 1981-1987

Howard H. Kaufman (1944-), chair at West Virginia from 1985-2000

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Controversies / Scandals

Recruited by the CIA and performed experiments involving sensory deprivation, mind control, and monkey head transplants

Maitland Baldwin (1918-1970), chief at U. of Colorado from 1951-1953 and first chief at NIH from 1953-1970

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Controversies / Scandals

Treated glioblastoma patients by injecting bacteria into the tumors

J. Paul Muizelaar (1947-), chair at U. of Davis, California from 1997-2013

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Controversies / Scandals

Attempt was made on his life by former neurosurgery resident turned neurologist

George S. Allen (1942-2019), chair at Vanderbilt from 1984-2009

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