Donald W. Seldin, MD, professor and chairman emeritus of internal medicine at the Dallas-based University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, died of lymphoma April 25. He was 97 years old, according to his obituary published by the medical center April 25.
Here are five things to know about Dr. Seldin.
1. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Dr. Seldin grew up during the Great Depression and did not initially see himself having a career in medicine. He was awarded a scholarship to attend New York City-based New York University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1940. He went on to earn a medical degree from New Haven, Conn.-based Yale School of Medicine, also on scholarship, graduating in 1943, according to Dr. Seldin's obituary in The New York Times.
2. He began his tenure at UT Southwestern Medical Center in 1951 and was named chairman of the department of internal medicine six months after his arrival.
3. Dr. Seldin remained at the institution until his retirement in 1988, serving 36 years as department chairman and setting a record for the longest tenure as a department chairman in American medicine, The New York Times reports. During his tenure, he oversaw numerous events at the medical enter and its affiliated hospital, Dallas-based Parkland Memorial Hospital. Dr. Seldin was a leader at Parkland Memorial when President John F. Kennedy was rushed there after being fatally shot on the day of his assassination in 1963, the report states.
4. Upon his retirement, Dr. Seldin — referred to by some as "the most influential and respected academic physician of his era" — saw the UT Southwestern Medical School employ 650 full-time professors, 800 medical students, 300 graduate students and 270 postdoctoral fellows, according to the report. He remained at the institution after his retirement.
5. Throughout his career, Dr. Seldin served as president of seven major professional or academic medical societies, including the Association of American Physicians. The organization awarded him its highest award, the George M. Kober Medal, in 1985, lauding Dr. Seldin as "one of the dominant intellectual forces in American medicine," The New York Times reports. He also founded the American Society of Nephrology.