Deaths
Robert G. Petersdorf, MACP
Robert G. Petersdorf, MACP, a former College President and one of the country's foremost experts on infectious disease, died on Sept. 29, 2006. A resident of Seattle, he was 80 years old.
Dr. Petersdorf earned his medical degree from Yale University in 1952. While a chief resident at Yale, he and Paul Beeson, MD, published a paper on prolonged fever that is still considered a classic. In 1960, Dr. Petersdorf joined the University of Washington as chief of medicine at Harborview Medical Center. He later became the second chair of the UW Department of Medicine. During his tenure, the department grew from 69 to 322 full-time faculty members, several new divisions were established, and general medical clinics began operating at the UW's teaching hospitals.
In 1979, Dr. Petersdorf left UW to become president of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He stayed in Boston until 1981, when he was named vice chancellor for health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Petersdorf returned to Seattle in 1995 to serve as a Distinguished Physician at the Puget Sound Veterans Affairs Health Care System.
In addition to his leadership at the College, Dr. Petersdorf served as president of the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Association of American Physicians, and the Association of Professors of Medicine. He also chaired the Board of Governors of the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Petersdorf played an important role in national health care policy as a member of advisory committees for the Centers for Disease Control, the Health Care Financing Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health. He was also a member of the Special Medical Advisory Group for the Veterans Administration. From 1968 to 1990, Dr. Petersdorf edited "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine." He also published more than 400 papers in professional and scientific journals during his career.
Dr. Petersdorf's ACP awards included the Alfred Stengel Memorial Award in 1980, the Distinguished Teacher Award in 1993 and the Washington Laureate Award in 1996. Dr. Petersdorf served as a College Regent from 1968-1974 and as President from 1975-1976. He became a Master in 1976.
E.L. Overholt, FACP
E.L. Overholt, FACP, a former College Governor and one of the Army's most respected clinicians and teachers, died on Sept. 24, 2006. A resident of La Crosse, Wisc., he was 83 years old.
Dr. Overholt received his medical degree from the University of Iowa School of Medicine in 1948, and later served as clinical professor in the school's Department of Internal Medicine. Following graduation, he entered the U.S. Army Medical Corps and was sent to the Pacific, where he earned a Silver Star. Dr. Overholt later joined a special Army Surgeon General's research team to investigate the defensive aspects of bacteriologic warfare, overseeing Project Mercury.
At Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Dr. Overholt became assistant chief of medicine and director of the internal medicine residency training program. In 1968, he accepted a position at the Gundersen Clinic in Wisconsin as the clinic's first full-time director of medical education and research. In 1994, Gundersen Clinic dedicated the Overholt Amphitheater is his honor. He also served as a clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine in Madison.
Dr. Overholt received his Fellowship in 1960. He was also the first ACP Governor for the Wisconsin Chapter, serving from 1982-1986. He was the recipient of many professional awards, among them the Laureate Award from both the Army and Wisconsin chapters.
Eleanor Z. Wallace, MACP
Eleanor Z. Wallace, MACP, a former College Governor and enthusiastic educator, died on Sept. 6, 2006. She was 79 years old.
Dr. Wallace received her medical degree from the State University of New York College of Medicine, Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1951. She served as professor of medicine and chief of the Medical Service at the Brooklyn VA Medical Center, and held a faculty appointment at SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn until 1985. She later became chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Her university appointments included SUNY Health Science Center at Stony Brook, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the CUNY School of Medicine.
Dr. Wallace, a strong advocate for evidence based medicine (EBM), co-chaired the New York State ACP Chapter's EBM Committee. Dr. Wallace was president of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine and served on its New York State Task Force. In 1994, she was appointed to the New York State Council on Graduate Medical Education.
Dr. Wallace was elected Governor of the New York Downstate Region II Chapter in 1991. She served as chair of the Chapter's Health & Public Policy Committee and as Chapter President from 1994-1995. On a national level, she participated in several committees dealing with educational issues. Dr. Wallace received her Mastership, as well as her chapter's Laureate award in 1997.
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