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

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Dr. Troyer and wife Ruth on their wedding day. DR.«). ROBERT

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 He greeted us freshman year with his overview of anatomy and his breakdown of the medical student work-week, reminding us to take time for ourselves and our families. He guided us through our basic sciences, utilizing his homemade embryology models, his histology Kodachromes and his reassuring sense of humor. He insured our success in the clinical sciences by providing us with both a solid foundation in anatomy and insight into problem solving. These words were written in the 1993 SKULL about J. Robert Troyer, PhD., the year he retired after forty years of service to Temple University School of Medicine. Dr. Troyer taught Gross Anatomy, Ncuroanatomy, Embryology, and Histology for 39 years. After obtaining his AB degree from Syracuse University in 1949 and his Ph.D. in Histology and Embryology from Cornell University, he began his distinguished career at Temple in 1954 as an Instructor of Anatomy. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1959, Associate Professor in 1963, full Professor in 1969, and finally. Chair of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology in 1978, a position he held until his retirement in 1993. Dr. Troyer's prolific career produced numerous publications, including research papers, abstracts, and textbook chapters. Most of his research centered on neurosecretion in hibernating animals and cmbryologic abnormalities. By far, Dr. Troyer will be remembered most by the faculty and students for his ability to teach. Thousands of Temple medical students through the years have witnessed his creative teaching methods and attempts to get his students to visualize the developing embryo in three dimensions as he rotated plastic bags, twisted balloons and climbed ladders in front of the classroom. He contributed over 450 hours of teaching each year, including laboratory and didactic lectures, as well as outstanding review sessions prior to major exams and national boards. It was this dedication that earned him 22 teaching awards during his tenure. Among these were several Golden Apple Awards for outstanding teaching; the nationally renowned Lind-back Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1972; and the George A. Sowell Award for Teaching Excellence in the Basic Sciences in 1982; and in 1989, he received a Temple University Great Teacher Award. He was also the first John Franklin Huber Professor of Anatomy. In 1990, the Anatomy department honored him by establishing the J. Robert Troyer Award, which is given annually to the medical student with the highest cumulative grade point average in all four courses taught by the Department. His contributions to Temple were acknowledged on many occasions, including having three yearbooks dedicated to him and participating as a hoodcr in four graduation cont. on page 7 Making music with sister Joan. Dr. Troyer as a young boy. 4

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Conl.frompage4 ceremonies. Dr. Troycr is also the first individual to have the yearbook dedicated in his honor posthumously. When interviewed shortly before his retirement in June 1993, he told the On Call newsletter that his most significant contribution to Temple Medical School was heading a curriculum committee of 200 faculty and student members, whose task it was to determine a core curriculum containing the minimum material students should know after completing four years. He was pleased that they produced a curriculum that lasted 17 years. Dr. Troycr's sincere concern for students, despite his many responsibilities and obligations, was quite evident over the years. He was passionately concerned about the quality of instruction students received, stating in the same 1993 interview, Temple medical students deserve outstanding teaching. And as any of the many Temple students who had him as an instructor can attest to, outstanding teaching is just what they received. Sadly, Dr. Troycr passed away on September 10,1993 after a battle with leukemia. Despite his illness, he continued to teach with the enthusiasm and ingenuity that permeated his career. He always had a kind or funny word, and a ready smile and twinkle in his eye. As members of the last class that he taught, we were fortunate enough to have had this special man touch upon our lives. Although we may forget what becomes of the pharyngeal pouches and brachial arches, we will never forget Dr. Troycr's warmth, approachability, and sense of humor. It is with great pride that we, the Class of 1996, dedicate our yearbook to Dr. J. Robert Troyer. Dr. Troyer and wife Ruth with David and Susan, Mother's Day, 1960.