Home     |    Contact ASA     |     Join ASA!    |     Members Only     |    Retail Store   |    Advertising Information
 
ASA NEWSLETTER
 
 
April 2001
Volume 65
Number 4
 
WHAT'S NEW

The Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology: WLM Dedicates Curator's Room in John Lundy's Honor

Douglas R. Bacon, M.D., Trustee

Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology



The Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology (WLM) and ASA dedicated the curator's office in a ceremony presided over by President Neil Swissman, M.D., at ASA headquarters on Friday, March 2, 2001. The late John W. Pender, M.D., who died February 18, 2001, made a most generous gift this past December to endow the room in memory of his mentor, John S. Lundy, M.D., and to recognize the Mayo Clinic's contribution to anesthesiology. The donation was also intended to help maintain the WLM's Living History Collection, named in Dr. Pender's honor. We will remember John W. (Bill) Pender for the many things that he did to make the field of anesthesiology better for all of us, said friend Elliott V. Miller, M.D.

Dr. Lundy arrived at the Mayo Clinic in 1924 at the invitation of William Mayo to teach regional anesthesia and anatomy. Dr. Lundy seized this opportunity and turned the department of anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic into one of the few centers of postgraduate education in anesthesiology before World War II. In the late 1920s, Dr. Lundy described and popularized the use of barbiturates in anesthetizing patients. Dr. Lundy was also a founding member of the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) and the president of the Section on Anesthesiology of the American Medical Association for the first 14 years of its existence.


From left, ASA President Neil Swissman, M.D., is joined by Mark A. Warner, M.D., and Alan D. Sessler, M.D., in hanging the plaque to commemorate the late John S. Lundy, M.D.


Many other distinguished anesthesiologists have trained and taught at the Mayo Clinic. Seven of these physicians have become presidents of ASA, 10 have been or are directors of ABA, three have been awarded the ASA Distinguished Service Award and two have received the ASA Excellence in Research Award. Nine members of the Mayo department have served on the editorial board of Anesthesiology, including one editor-in-chief, while five have served on the editorial board of Anesthesia & Analgesia, with one of the five being named editor-in-chief. These physicians will be commemorated in the Mayo Clinic Room with a plaque bearing their names.

    Douglas R. Bacon, M.D., is Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.


John W. Pender, M.D. - An Appreciation

By Elliott.V. Miller, M.D.

We will remember John W. (Bill) Pender, for the many things that he did to make the field of anesthesiology better for all of us. Bill gave of himself and always worked hard. He is the creator and founder of the Living History series of the Wood Library-Museum, and the collection now bears his name. Bill, along with John Leahy, M.D., began the project about 30 years ago. Dr. Leahy had the entire movie and video equipment, while Bill did the rest of the work. Bill made a large and very generous contribution of $100,000 to endow this program and the Mayo Room and to honor John S. Lundy, M.D. We also honor John W. Pender today for the foresight, generosity, hard work and humanity that he brought to anesthesia.

He was born in Hesterville, Mississippi in 1912, the son of a rural physician. Bill had gone by horse many times to attend to patients with his father. He was the eldest child and often was responsible for his siblings. He would set the Sunday newspaper comics aside until he and his sisters had returned home from Sunday school. After medical school at Tulane University, he returned to practice in Mississippi.

In 1944, he gave local anesthesia to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for resection of a malignant growth during a cruise aboard the presidential yacht on the Potomac River. He recalled how important it was to make the public announcement after the secret procedure that F.D.R. was fine and smoking a cigarette immediately after the surgery.

Subsequently, he went to the anesthesiology department at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, joining the staff for a time with Dr. Lundy. Bill was involved with the earliest work at Mayo in developing anesthesia for open-heart surgery. In 1954, he went to Palo Alto Medical Clinic where he practiced anesthesia for the remainder of his active medical career.

Bill invented the open-drop vaporizer, called the "Pender Lemon," which fit an Adams tracheal tube adapter.

HONORS

1979 - First Clinical Professor of Anesthesia Emeritus at Stanford

1983 - Citation of Merit - Academy of Anesthesia

1984 - Honorary Degree - Tulane University, after 50 years as an M.D.

For those in sorrow because of this loss, some words of comfort: "Although much is lost, much still abides."

Much does abide: the Pender Living History collection; JW Pender's video interview in 1983 (A gem!); and the work and place that exists because of his donation.


return to top


 


FEATURES

Regional Anesthesia: Targeting the Latest Issues

ARTICLES


DEPARTMENTS


The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views, policies or actions of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

NL Archives

Information for Authors