Class Note 1942
Issue
September-October 2021
There were refreshing photos of 2021 Commencement looking normal and joyful after these long 15 months.
I asked Stu Finch to send a piece on his thoughts about Dartmouth—see below. Next column I will ask Jon Mendes to do the same. I plan to canvas other members and widows of the class for future columns. For example, what is your favorite memory of Dartmouth Hall? What contributed to your choice of Dartmouth and did it meet your expectations?
“Little generally is known about Dartmouth’s enormous contributions to certain fields of medical science. For example, at least 12 faculty members or graduates of Dartmouth were the primary investigators and reporters of the early adverse medical effects of radiation exposure in the atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Subsequently, a long-term, follow-up study program for about 120,000 Japanese survivors was designed and implemented by Gilbert Beebe ’33. Shortly after the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine, he and I designed and worked on a similar program for the radiation-exposed cleanup workers of that accident. The results of these studies have provided the world with its most reliable knowledge of the long-term medical effects of human ionizing radiation exposure. I have been very privileged to have worked closely with Dr. Beebe on both of these projects for more than 40 years. Some other members of our class have made important contributions to medical science. Mel Figley was the head of radiology at the University of Washington Medical School. Joe Wilder authored several books on surgery while on the faculty of Mount Sinai Medical School (he also was an acclaimed portrait artist of many professional sports figures). Hank Woodworth did basic medical research at both Yale and the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Dick Lawton, while in the department of physiology at Cornell Medical School and at GE, was a major contributor to the development of equipment for several types of advanced medical diagnostic procedures. Although not a member of our class, I should mention that my good friend, Owen Chamberlain ’41, won a Nobel Prize for his discovery of a subatomic particle, the antiproton. My recollections above represent only a snapshot in time of Dartmouth’s many contributions to medical science.”
—Joanna Caproni, 370 East 76 St., Apt. A 406, New York, NY 10021; caproni@aol.com
I asked Stu Finch to send a piece on his thoughts about Dartmouth—see below. Next column I will ask Jon Mendes to do the same. I plan to canvas other members and widows of the class for future columns. For example, what is your favorite memory of Dartmouth Hall? What contributed to your choice of Dartmouth and did it meet your expectations?
“Little generally is known about Dartmouth’s enormous contributions to certain fields of medical science. For example, at least 12 faculty members or graduates of Dartmouth were the primary investigators and reporters of the early adverse medical effects of radiation exposure in the atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Subsequently, a long-term, follow-up study program for about 120,000 Japanese survivors was designed and implemented by Gilbert Beebe ’33. Shortly after the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine, he and I designed and worked on a similar program for the radiation-exposed cleanup workers of that accident. The results of these studies have provided the world with its most reliable knowledge of the long-term medical effects of human ionizing radiation exposure. I have been very privileged to have worked closely with Dr. Beebe on both of these projects for more than 40 years. Some other members of our class have made important contributions to medical science. Mel Figley was the head of radiology at the University of Washington Medical School. Joe Wilder authored several books on surgery while on the faculty of Mount Sinai Medical School (he also was an acclaimed portrait artist of many professional sports figures). Hank Woodworth did basic medical research at both Yale and the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Dick Lawton, while in the department of physiology at Cornell Medical School and at GE, was a major contributor to the development of equipment for several types of advanced medical diagnostic procedures. Although not a member of our class, I should mention that my good friend, Owen Chamberlain ’41, won a Nobel Prize for his discovery of a subatomic particle, the antiproton. My recollections above represent only a snapshot in time of Dartmouth’s many contributions to medical science.”
—Joanna Caproni, 370 East 76 St., Apt. A 406, New York, NY 10021; caproni@aol.com