University of Kansas School of Medicine - Jayhawker MD Yearbook (Kansas City, KS)

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DEDICATIIDN When Harry Roswell Wahl became Acting Dean of the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 1924, the fortunes of the Medical School were at its lowest ebb and the task of the Dean most formidable. Undaunted, he took over and has steered the course of the Medical School with skill, prudence, and sanity. Now, on his resignation after twenty-five years of devoted service, he has the satisfaction of seeing the school past the rocks and rapids, and in calm waters. For more than twenty-five years I have been closely associated with Roswell Wahl, years which have confirmed my initial impression of his industry, integrity, and selfless devotion to the interests of the Medical School. In his dealings with col- leagues and students he has always been scrupulously fair, always willing to shoulder blame, even when it belonged elsewhere, and he has invariably showed an almost superhuman absence of personal rancor or vindictiveness when unfairly attacked. For years he carried the three-fold burden of Dean, Professor of Pathology, and Superintendent of the Hospital, his only recreation being, apparently, a change from one type of work to the other. With the years the demands of each position grew. The year he became Professor of Pathology the department performed 48 necropsies; last year the number was 551. The year he became Dean the appropriation for the Medical School and Hospital was $139,135 and in 1948 it was $626,000. These figures indicate how his responsibilities increased with the years. Suetonius, the Roman historian, remarked that Augustus Caesar found Rome a city built of brick and left it one built of marble. Wahl took over an institution on a new site with one building and left it with ten. But he did more. He taught by work and example that the physician should be not only skilled in his profession but should have an understanding heart. He trained generations of medical students in pathology, the basis of clinical medicine and surgery, and educated a veritable family of patholo- gists. These students and disciples will remain an even more lasting monument to Harry Roswell Wahl, than the imposing buildings erected during his administration. Ralph H. Major, M.D.