Temple University School of Medicine - Skull Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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Wellesley. She commuted to Boston every afternoon, simultaneously pursuing her third year of medical school at Tufts University. In 1922 site returned to Minnesota as Assistant Professor and senior medical student. That year she was elected to A O A and graduated second in her class. She was promoted to Associate Professor and remained at Minnesota until 1935. On sabbatical leave in 1927 she studied at the Tierar lichen Hochschule in Berlin under Max Crenrer. a noted neurophysiologist, and then at University College in London under Lovatt Evans, the editor of Starling's Physiology. Dr. Greisheimer came to Philadelphia in 1935 as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physiology at Women’s Medical College. She left in 1943 to enter clinical medicine. When Dean Parkinson learned that she was leaving Women's Medical College lie attempted to bring her to Temple. The Dean knew of her through her former students. Dean Collins, late Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology; Robert Hamilton, Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry; and Nina Anderson, formerly of the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Parkinson asked her to postpone her decision until he had the opportunity to speak with her, but she had already decided to take a residency in anesthesiology at the University of Minnesota. Dean Parkinson made a special trip to Minneapolis, where, with admirable persuasiveness, he induced Dr. Greisheimer to return to teaching and re- search in anesthesiology at Temple. Dr. Greisheimer arrived at Temple New Year’s Day 1944 and was appointed Professor of Physiology. In addition to teaching she has served the school as advisor to women students, and she sponsored the establishment of A E I sorority. She celebrated her sixty-fifth birthday in 1956 and decided to retire from full-time teaching. She is now Research Professor of Anesthesiology. Her recognition as an excellent teacher is equalled by her acclaim as an author. She has to her credit about one hundred thirty publications, primarily-dealing with physiology and anesthesiology. Her textbook, Physiology and Anatomy,” is a standard text in many nursing schools. Its seventh edition appeared in 1955. Dr. Greisheimer is continually revising and improving it. She is a member of many organizations—too numerous to mention more than a few. These include: Sigma Xi—University of Chicago- 1916 A Ii I—University of Minnesota—1918 Phi Beta Kappa, alumna member—Ohio University -1930 Sigma Della Epsilon—graduate society for women in science Iota Epsilon Pi—graduate chemistry society American Association for the Advancement of Science American Association of University Professors American Physiology' Society 6

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ESTHER MAUD GREISHEIMER, B.S., M.A., Ph.D., M.D. Dr. Greisheimer’s secret has puzzled us for four years. She claims to be sixty-seven years old, but her youthful spirit and her endless energy and vitality lead us to question her claim. We know that her charm still appeals to men in their twenties, and those in our class who have visited her home have found in her exactly the qualities we prize most in a woman —a suj erb cook and housekeeper, and a vivacious, intelligent, entertaining person. II she is truly sixty-seven, she is of interest to us as physicians, foi medical science has long sought to combat the aging process to which ordinary persons succumb. Consequently, several hours were spent taking a careful history in an attempt to discover Dr. Greisheimer s preservative. When the facts of her life revealed no answer we continued to delve as subtly and guilefully as possible, hoping that she might inadvertently reveal the information we sought. Our efforts were futile, and the secret is still Dr. Grci-sheimer's alone. Perhaps a better clinician than this historian will be able to discern or correlate the facts which escaped us. Therefore, we present the details of her remarkable, productive life. Dr. Greisheimer was born October 31, 1891, the youngest of three daughters of William and Elizabeth Andre Greisheimer. When she was two years old her mother died. Her early years were spent on her father's farm in Chillicothe, Ohio, where she attended the local grade school. Later she attended the preparatory school of Ohio University in Athens. Her first teaching experience followed. She taught all eight gratles in a one-room country school. This required walking six miles each day. for the streetcar line ended at a distance from the school. In June 1914, after three more years at Ohio University. she received her Bachelor of Sciences in Education. Her extracurricular activities included tutoring, and assisting the housemother to help earn expenses, and she was associate editor of the yearbook. Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts awarded her a scholarship, and. two years later, her master’s degree in Physiology. Chicago University awarded her a scholarship, but financial difficulties halted her studies there. Consequently she took a position as Instructor in Physiological Chemistry and Physiology- at the University of Minnesota Medical School. In addition to teaching she earned room and board by chaperoning a house of girls; she completed her freshman year of medical school and she prepared the thesis for her Ph. D. degree, which she received in June 1919. Her thesis, A quantitative study of effects produced by-salts of sodium, potassium, rubidium, and calcium on motor nerve of frog. became her first publication when accepted by the American Journal of Physiology. Leaving the University of Minnesota in 1921, she became Assistant Professor in Advanced Ph siology at

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American Medical Association American Medical Womens Association Intel national Medical Women’s Association New Y'ork Academy of Sciences Philadelphia Anesthesiology Society In 195 1 the Philadelphia branch of the American Medical Women’s Association named her “Medical Woman of the Year.” In that year she was also elected deacon of the First Presbyterian Church of Germantown. In the fall of 1956 Dr. Greishcimer attended the Seventh Congress of the International Medical Womens Association in Switzerland after visiting Iceland and Scandinavia as guest ol several physiology departments. She reports that in Copenhagen, where she lectured on effects of anesthetic agents on cardiac output, it is fashionable for women to smoke cigars. Dr. Greisheimer visited Europe last summer for a convention of the same organization in London. There she met the Queen Mother and the Lord Mayor of London. Afterwards, she visited and interviewed the anesthesiology departments of universities in Paris and several Italian cities. Not surprising in view of her present incredible vitality. Dr. Greisheimer was athletic as a girl, enjoying tennis and hiking in particular. She recalls with delight one summer spent hiking the Canadian Rockies. Her current favorite avocations include cooking (and those who eat a meal at her home are noted to become frequent visitors), music, and the study of language. She has mastered French, German. Spanish. and, in preparation for her last trip to Europe, Italian. She lives at 3429 Midvale Avenue in the East Falls section of Germantown in a home that reflects refined taste and an orderly personality. Her home has welcomed many students through the years. These are the essential facts of her biography. Admirable as she may seem from these alone, they do not present the full picture, for she is far more than her accomplishments reveal. We think not of the achievements. but of a woman whose kind, encouraging words and deep desire to teach made the rough moments of medical school lighter. We think of a person who reviewed as many as sixty articles to bring to date one lecture she had given last year. As a result, when we were studying for our junior examination in Anesthesiology many of us found that Dr. Greisheimer's lectures on the subject from our sophomore course in Pharmacology remained our most valuable, accurate, and lucid source of information. We found, also, a woman with whom we could freely discuss any of our problems, for her interest in all of us was deep and sincere. Dr. Greisheimer, we do not know your secret, but, in gratitude for all that you have given us of yourself, the class of 1959 feels privileged to dedicate our yearbook to you.