Con|emporaries

Edward P. Cawley, M.D.

As third- and fourth-year medical students at the University of Michigan in the late 1930s, we were exposed to a good deal of excellent teaching in the fields of dermatology and syphilology, and it was this exposure which piqued my interest in the specialty.

I graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor in 1940. After in- ternship and 3 years in military service, mainly in the European Theater, I returned to the University of Michigan Medical Center for further training in dermatology and syphilology, where I was fortu- nate in having two outstanding chiefs, Dr. Arthur C. Curtis and Dr. Udo J. Wile. Dr. Curtis, a bril- liant man, had been associate professor of internal medicine before switching to dermatology; this invaluable background was clearly apparent in all of his medical activities, while his winsome man- ner endeared him to patients, students, residents, and colleagues. I learned a great deal from him, especially in regard to the interplay between medi- cal disorders and the skin, as well as the impor- tance of the art of medicine, a field in which he excelled. Dr. Wile was a world-renowned derma- tologist and syphilologist; his knowledge in these fields benefitted me greatly, especially in regard to developing diagnostic ability in diseases related to them. The skill and devotion of these two great men to practice, teaching, and research impressed me, and my aspiration was to become as proficient as they were.

From 1948 to 1951, I was assistant professor of dermatology in the University of Michigan Medi- cal School. In 1951, I was appointed professor and chairman of the Department of Dermatology in the University of Virginia School of Medicine at Charlottesville. Dr. Clayton E. Wheeler, Jr., now professor and chairman of the Department of Dermatology in the University of North Carolina Medical School at Chapel Hill, had completed his training in both internal medicine and dermatology and syphilology at the University of Michigan and

0190-9622/82/020287+02500,20/0 © 1982 Am Acad Demaatol

Edward P, Cawley, M.D.

came with me from Ann Arbor to Charlottesville, where we made our best effort over the years to organize a Department of Dermatology and Syphi- lology smaller but otherwise comparable to the one at Michigan. At the University of Virginia I was honored twice with the Robley Dunglison Award, named for the first professor of anatomy and medicine, who was appointed by Thomas Jef- ferson. The award, given each year by the fourth- year medical class to the professor they feel has been their outstanding teacher and mentor, was presented to me in 1964, the year of its establish- ment, and again in 1975. At the time of my re- tirement as chairman in 1976, the Edward P. Caw- ley Chair of Dermatology was established at the

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University of Virginia School of Medicine, with an endowment provided by former residents, col- leagues, patients, and friends. I was also privi- leged to be selected from the University of Vir- ginia Faculty as its distinguished professor for 1977. Over a period of years I published 89 scien- tific articles, probably the most significant of which called attention to genetic aspects of malig- nant melanoma, ~ a subject which until then had been virtually ignored.

Among the pleasures of my years in academic dermatology have been the privilege of teaching dermatology and syphilology to medical students and residents and the opportunity of following the

careers of former departmental residents. The greatest satisfaction, however, has come from see- ing Dr, Peyton E. Weary appointed to succeed me as professor and chairman of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Virginia and from watching Dr. Kenneth E. Greer rise steadily from instructor to full professor in the department. Both had their training at Virginia,

Edward P. Cawley, M.D. Charlottesville, VA 22908

REFERENCE

t, Cawley EP: Genetic aspects o1' malignant melanoma. Arch Dermatol 65:440-448, 1952.