Class Note 1974
Issue
September-October 2020
Hi, everyone.
Matt Putnam and the executive committee are hard at work on fundraising, class projects, and our 50th reunion. I read in Rick Ranger’s recent newsletter that he will be taking over bios on our classmates, which really makes sense since he doesn’t have the word limit that we do.
So I am going to finish with this profile of Freddie Fu, M.D. I had the pleasure of knowing Freddie, taking many classes with him, and, as a doctor myself, always took pleasure in knowing I “knew him when….”
Freddie graduated summa cum laude, received his B.M.S. in 1975 from Dartmouth Medical School and earned his M.D. in 1977 from the University of Pittsburgh (UP). He completed his general surgery internship at Brown University and returned to Pitt to complete his residency training. He is the David Silver Professor and chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and a distinguished service professor at UP. Freddie specializes in sports medicine and serves as head team physician for UP and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater.
Freddie reinvented how doctors deal with anterior cruciate ligament repairs. Innumerable amateur and professional athletes have benefited from his research and skills in this area. For 40 years he has had the most publications in this specialty. His state-of-the-art sports medicine complexes provide the comprehensive care for patients of all ages and athletes at all levels.
Freddie Fu is recognized throughout the world as representing excellence and innovation in sports medicine. His leadership has been frequently acknowledged nationally and internationally as well as within the community. He oversees more than 200 surgeons as head of orthopedics at Pitt. In addition, he oversees one of the best and most ethnically and gender-diversified orthopedic residency training programs in the country. He has been honored with more than 300 professional awards and was inducted to the 2016 American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Hall of Fame. For Freddie’s pioneering work and his contributions to UPMC and UP, the UPMC Sports Medicine Center was renamed the UPMC Freddie Fu Sports Medicine Center.
Freddie credits DMS Dean James Strickler ’50, DMS’51 (a Pittsburgh native), for encouraging him to work with Dr. Albert Ferguson ’41, DMS’42, orthopedics chair in sports medicine at UP. Freddie exemplifies Dr. Ferguson’s philosophy: “Do the right thing, take care of your patients, and they will take care of you.”
The Dartmouth tradition continues throughout the Fu family with brother Frank ’76 and children Gordon ’99 and Joyce ’03. Freddie remains on the board of overseers for Geisel School of Medicine. Freddie cohosts an annual reception for incoming Dartmouth freshmen in the region to welcome them. He maintains a residence in Hanover. Nominated by classmates Oge Young and Doug Hamlin, he received the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award.
Freddie is married to Hilda Pang Fu, a porcelain painter and founder and president of a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit formed to broaden minds and inspire innovation. They have five grandchildren.
Please send me news.
—Philip Stebbins, 17 Hardy Road, Londonderry, NH 03053; p.stebs@comcast.net
Matt Putnam and the executive committee are hard at work on fundraising, class projects, and our 50th reunion. I read in Rick Ranger’s recent newsletter that he will be taking over bios on our classmates, which really makes sense since he doesn’t have the word limit that we do.
So I am going to finish with this profile of Freddie Fu, M.D. I had the pleasure of knowing Freddie, taking many classes with him, and, as a doctor myself, always took pleasure in knowing I “knew him when….”
Freddie graduated summa cum laude, received his B.M.S. in 1975 from Dartmouth Medical School and earned his M.D. in 1977 from the University of Pittsburgh (UP). He completed his general surgery internship at Brown University and returned to Pitt to complete his residency training. He is the David Silver Professor and chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and a distinguished service professor at UP. Freddie specializes in sports medicine and serves as head team physician for UP and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater.
Freddie reinvented how doctors deal with anterior cruciate ligament repairs. Innumerable amateur and professional athletes have benefited from his research and skills in this area. For 40 years he has had the most publications in this specialty. His state-of-the-art sports medicine complexes provide the comprehensive care for patients of all ages and athletes at all levels.
Freddie Fu is recognized throughout the world as representing excellence and innovation in sports medicine. His leadership has been frequently acknowledged nationally and internationally as well as within the community. He oversees more than 200 surgeons as head of orthopedics at Pitt. In addition, he oversees one of the best and most ethnically and gender-diversified orthopedic residency training programs in the country. He has been honored with more than 300 professional awards and was inducted to the 2016 American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Hall of Fame. For Freddie’s pioneering work and his contributions to UPMC and UP, the UPMC Sports Medicine Center was renamed the UPMC Freddie Fu Sports Medicine Center.
Freddie credits DMS Dean James Strickler ’50, DMS’51 (a Pittsburgh native), for encouraging him to work with Dr. Albert Ferguson ’41, DMS’42, orthopedics chair in sports medicine at UP. Freddie exemplifies Dr. Ferguson’s philosophy: “Do the right thing, take care of your patients, and they will take care of you.”
The Dartmouth tradition continues throughout the Fu family with brother Frank ’76 and children Gordon ’99 and Joyce ’03. Freddie remains on the board of overseers for Geisel School of Medicine. Freddie cohosts an annual reception for incoming Dartmouth freshmen in the region to welcome them. He maintains a residence in Hanover. Nominated by classmates Oge Young and Doug Hamlin, he received the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award.
Freddie is married to Hilda Pang Fu, a porcelain painter and founder and president of a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit formed to broaden minds and inspire innovation. They have five grandchildren.
Please send me news.
—Philip Stebbins, 17 Hardy Road, Londonderry, NH 03053; p.stebs@comcast.net