Faculty Notes

Chester R. Burns (professor, Institute for the Medical Humanities and Preventive Medicine and Community Health, and James Wade Rockwell Professor of Medical History) received a Special Recognition Award from the Texas Medical Association (TMA) Board of Trustees for his role in championing the history of medicine in Texas. The award, given in January 2005, honored him for his unique service to medicine and to the TMA, and is not awarded every year. Burns’ exceptional service to the TMA includes serving on the TMA History of Medicine Committee from its inception in 1989 to 2004, and as the chair from 2001 to 2004.

Daniel H. Freeman, Jr. (director, Office of Biostatistics), and Jean L. Freeman (professor, Internal Medicine) and Diane M. Heliker (associate professor, School of Nursing) were honored as the inaugural holders of the Edgar Gnitzinger Distinguished Professorship in Aging, Grace Bucksch Gnitzinger Distinguished Professorship in Aging, and Edgar and Grace Gnitzinger Chair in Geriatric Nursing, respectively. All three were appointed to the endowed positions for their outstanding work in geriatric research. The endowments were created by the estate of Edgar and Grace Gnitzinger, an elderly couple who had retired to Galveston from Chicago and were grateful for the care they received at UTMB.

Grace K. Jameson (clinical professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences) was honored by the Gulf Coast affiliate of the National Association for the Mentally Ill in May 2005. She was recognized for devoting her life to helping people with mental illness. Jameson has been at UTMB for more than fifty years and is known as a pioneer in the treatment of children and adolescents. 

Dr. Stanley Lemon (professor and director, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity) was one of twenty-four individuals named by Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt to the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB). The board will provide advice and recommend specific strategies for efficient and effective oversight of federally conducted or supported dual-use biological research taking into consideration both national security concerns and the needs of the research community.

Steven A. Lieberman (associate dean for educational affairs, School of Medicine, and associate professor, Internal Medicine) was nominated for the 2005 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award. The UTMB School of Medicine was invited to nominate one faculty member for the award which recognizes significant contributions to medical education made by gifted teachers.

Martin L. Nusynowitz (professor, Radiology, Internal Medicine and Pathology) was appointed a life member of the American Board of Nuclear Medicine.

Linda G. Phillips (chair, Plastic Surgery, and senior associate dean for academic affairs, School of Medicine) was elected the 2005–2006 vice-chair of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, Inc. She is the first woman to hold this position.

Don W. Powell (professor, Internal Medicine and Neuroscience and Cell Biology; director, General Clinical Research Center; and associate dean for research, School of Medicine) was named a 2005 Mentors Research Scholar Award recipient by the American Gastroenterological Association. Award recipients are recognized for their contributions of time, energy and personal resources as mentors and have Research Scholar Awards endowed in their names with the American Gastroenterological Association Foundation.

G.S. Raju (associate professor, Gastroenterology) was invited by the editor of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy to develop a continuing medical education section for the members of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. This is the first time in the history of the journal to have such a section.

Linda R. Rounds (associate professor, School of Nursing) was reappointed president of the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners by Texas Governor Rick Perry in early 2005. Perry also reappointed her to a six-year term as a board representative for advanced practice education. Rounds has served as president since 2000 and as a board member since 1999.

Norma H. Rubin (professor, Neuroscience and Cell Biology) was a finalist for the 2005 TIAA-CREF Distinguished Medical Educator Award. The award is given annually to honor teaching physicians, nurses and other health care professionals for their achievements and dedication to medical education.

Kay Sandor (associate professor, School of Nursing) is the recipient of a 2005-2006 Fulbright Lecturing Award. She is the third member of the School of Nursing faculty to receive the Fulbright award in the past four years. Her research interests include spiritual development in nursing and medical students and the effects of walking the labyrinth on the mind, body, and spirit. She will begin teaching community and transcultural nursing at Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary, in September 2005.

J. Marc Shabot (professor, Gastroenterology) received the American College of Physicians’ Laureate Award at the Texas Academy of Internal Medicine’s annual scientific meeting in November 2004. The award honors individuals who have demonstrated, by their example and conduct, an abiding commitment to excellence in medical care, education, or research, and in service to their community and to the American College of Physicians (ACP). Shabot served as program chairman for the state chapter’s annual scientific meeting on three occasions, and was governor of the ACP Texas Southern Region from 1999-2003. He is the only person from Galveston ever elected to serve as ACP governor.

UTMB president John D. Stobo was named Business Leader of the Year by the Galveston Chamber of Commerce in June 2005. The annual award is presented to a person who exemplifies honesty, integrity, compassion, and the ethical treatment of co-workers, customers and business associates, and who has demonstrated a commitment to community service.

John Troupe (associate professor and chair ad interim, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences) dedicated a new ophthalmic surgery training lab in honor of Michael M. Warren (professor and chief, Urology) in February 2005. Troupe recognized Warren for his outstanding leadership of the department as interim chair from May 2001 to September 2004 and for providing the motivation to found the lab for surgical simulation.

Randall J. Urban (director, Endocrinology and Stark Diabetes Center) was appointed chair of the Department of Internal Medicine in June 2005. He had served as the interim chair since June 2004.

Barry F. Uretsky (director, Cardiology and Cardiovascular Catheterization Laboratory) became president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) in May 2005. SCAI has more than 3,300 members and its mission is to promote excellence in invasive and interventional cardiovascular medicine through physician education and representation, and advancement of quality standards to enhance patient care. 

Douglas M. Watts (professor, Pathology, and associate director of scientific administration, Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases) received a Distinguished Alumnus award from his alma mater, Berea College, in June 2005.

Registered nurse Katie M. Winslade (director, Workforce Development) was named one of ten “Women on the Move” in the greater Houston area by Texas Executive Women and the Houston Chronicle in November 2004. She was honored for her many contributions in helping those in need of employment receive the education, training and support they need to be successful in health-related jobs. Winslade is a longtime advocate for women in Galveston County.

In Memoriam

William J. McGanity, M.D.

William James (Bill) McGanity, M.D., 81, former dean of medicine and retired UTMB professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Ashbel Smith Professor of OB/Gyn as well as the Ashbel Smith Professor Emeritus, died at a UTMB hospital on February 10,2005.

Born on September 21, 1923, in Kitchener, Ontario, McGanity graduated in 1946 from the University of Toronto Medical School. He served as an intern at Toronto General Hospital and received three fellowships in nutrition from the University of Toronto and Vanderbilt University. In 1952 he finished his residency training in OB/Gyn at the University of Toronto. In addition, he served in the Royal Canadian Medical Corps from 1944–1952.

In his more than twenty-eight years at UTMB, beginning in September 1959, McGanity trained and oversaw the development of thousands of currently practicing medical doctors as well as other health services professionals. Among the academic honors and fellowships accorded him were membership in the AOA Honor Medical Society, the American College of OB/Gyn’s first President’s Community Service Award, the March of Dimes’ first Agnes Higgins Award for Outstanding Achievement, the Baden Gibbs Award for Leadership, and the Texas Perinatal Association’s Award for Lifetime Achievement. In addition, he published more than ninety-five reports and articles furthering academic medicine.

He is survived by his devoted partner and wife, Mary, of Galveston; sister Jane Weinart, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, three children and their spouses, Peter McGanity and wife, Carol, Martha Reinhart and husband, Paul, and David McGanity and wife, Lynne; and six grandchildren. Those wishing to make gifts in Dr. McGanity’s memory may do so to the charity of their choice or to either of two UTMB scholarship funds: the Hambrock-McGanity Award in Obstetrics and Gynecology or the Mary K. and William J. McGanity Nursing Award, care of Gifts and Memorials, UTMB, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX 77555-0148.

Betty J. Williams, Ph.D.

Betty J. Williams, 68, emeritus professor of pharmacology and toxicology, died May 28, 2005, in a hospital in Marietta, Georgia.

Professor Williams received her B.A. in chemistry from Georgia State College for Women, Milledgeville, and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in pharmacology from Emory University in Atlanta. Following post-doctoral training at the University of Washington in Seattle, she came to UTMB, where she remained on the faculty for thirty-five years, serving as a teacher, researcher, and administrator. She retired in August 2003 and subsequently moved from Galveston to Woodstock, Georgia.

Professor Williams helped develop two significant curricular innovations in the medical school and served as course director for the medical pharmacology course for many years, part of that time as director of the pharmacology graduate program.

Recognized by students in both the medical school and graduate school for distinguished teaching and mentoring, she received the UTMB American Medical Students Association Golden Apple Award and was named the Dean of Medicine’s Teacher of the Year. She also received the Graduate Student Organization’s Distinguished Teaching Award and its Faculty Award for Student Advocacy.

She served from 1994 to 2003 as associate dean for academic affairs of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Beginning in 1997, she wrote periodically about drug policy issues in essays that appeared in newspapers including the Houston Chronicle, Galveston County Daily News, Austin American-Statesman, and Dallas Morning News, as well as sometimes in UTMB Magazine.

Professor Williams is survived by her companion of more than thirty-five years, Cecile King of Woodstock, Georgia; her mother, Sara W. Williams; sister, Lynn W. Keys and husband, Steve Jones; and niece Catherine K. Balbona and husband, George, all of Marietta, Georgia.

In lieu of other memorials the family requests that contributions may be made to the Betty J. Williams Endowed Scholarship Fund, Office of University Advancement, UTMB, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX 77555-0148.

Marvin S. Legator, Ph.D.

Marvin S. Legator, 78, first director the division of environmental toxicology in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, died July 11, 2005, at his home in Galveston. The cause was cancer of the salivary glands.

Jonathan Ward, current director of the division, called Dr. Legator, who inaugurated the division in 1976, “a founding father of environmental toxicology.”

Legator developed new ways of assessing the health effects of toxic pollution on communities and served as an expert witness helping individuals and communities in cases involving injury from toxic chemicals. An early legal case won damages in the millions of dollars for a chemical plant worker diagnosed with leukemia after he was exposed to benzene, Ward noted.

The overarching goal of Legator’s research was to reduce or eliminate human exposure to industrial compounds and other substances that pose a threat to people’s health.

In 1985, he co-edited The Health Detective’s Handbook: A Guide to the Investigation of Environmental Health Hazards by Nonprofessionals. It was reissued in 1993 as Chemical Alert! ACommunity Action Handbook and is still available. During the 1990s, he also wrote a weekly question-and-answer column called “Living in a Chemical World,” which appeared in the Galveston County Daily News.

His research often made news. The final project that he initiated as principal investigator, reported in the New York Times and elsewhere, looked at a possible link between methylphenidate—the active ingredient in Ritalin and similar drugs long used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and cancer (see “Children mice, rats, and Ritalin,” page 3).  Ward noted that Legator was troubled by studies showing the drug caused  liver tumors in mice and promptly raised a hundred thousand dollars to fund a preliminary study of the effects of the medication on children—all while battling his own disease. That work is now leading to follow-up studies, Ward said.

Legator was born on July 17, 1926, in Chicago. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biochemistry and a doctorate in microbial genetics and biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

Before joining the UTMB faculty in 1976, he worked for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Julius Hyman & Co., a Denver chemical company, and taught genetics at Brown University in Providence.

Survivors include his wife, Donna Lee Harray Legator of Galveston; daughters, Alice Legator of Sacramento, Lori Legator of Panajachel, Guatemala, and Kimber Lee Allen, of Oklahoma City; sister, Eleanor Simon, of Florida; and five grandchildren.

See also, Virginia Blocker, M.D., in School of Medicine Class Notes.