- Email: [email protected]
Presentation of the Friedenwald Medal to Frank Pickering Brooks, M.D.
GASTROENTEROLOGY 1988:95:1447-8
Presentation of the Friedenwald Medal to Frank Pickering Brooks, M.D.
I
t is my privilege today to present the Julius Friedenwald Medal to Dr. Frank Pickering Brooks. This award is given annually by the American Gastroenterological Association in recognition of a lifetime achievement in gastroenterology. To place the contributions of Frank Brooks to our profession in perspective, I will attempt to highlight both his professional and his personal qualities. Frank Brooks was a part of the golden era of gastrointestinal physiology, a period when major advances were made in our understanding of how the gut functions in normal and abnormal states. He, along with great physiologists such as Morton Grossman, Charles Code, and Franz Ingelfinger, dominated these meetings presenting the major advances in gastrointestinal physiology. Frank's presence at the plenary session, as well as at the gastric and pancreatic sessions, has been a critical part of the history of
gastrointestinal physiology and of the Americari Gastroenterological Association. His research, commentaries at our meetings, and leadership in investigation are woven into the fabric of this organization and into the field of gastroenterology. Frank Brooks was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1920. He graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He attended the Dartmouth 2-year medical school, completing his medical education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was destined to return to serve his distinguished academic career. Frank served 2 years of active duty in the Navy, including sea duty. He then developed his skills in clinical gastroenterology at the Lahey Clinic in Bos© 1988 by the American Gastroenterological Association
0016-5085/88/$3.50
1448 COHEN
ton working under Dr. Sara Jordan. He was trained in the basic science discipline of physiology under Dr. J. Earl Thomas at Jefferson Medical College. His first research dealt with the effects of alcohol and gastric juice on pancreatic exocrine secretion, an area in which he continued to be productive throughout his research career. Frank Brooks has spent his entire professional career of 37 years at the University of Pennsylvania. Here, he followed Dr. T. Grier Miller and Dr. Thomas Machella in leading one of the finest and most distinguished gastroenterology research and training programs in the world. Frank conducted a large and successful research program in gastric and pancreatic physiology. He bridged two departments, teaching and conducting research in Physiology and in Medicine. He trained many distinguished professors and practitioners not only in medicine but also in physiology, surgery, and veterinary medicine. His influence and impact in academia, industry, and clinical practice have been enormous. The field of gastroenterology is so much richer because of his contributions. Frank Brooks is predominantly recognized as an investigator. Additionally, he has served a major leadership role as President of the AGA and a member of the Digestive Diseases Commission, the NIH Study Section and Council, and the American Board of Internal Medicine, as well as the American Physiological Society. He has helped to shape the identity of our profession as it currently exists as a clinical and research discipline. For those of us who passed through the GI Program at the University of Pennsylvania during the past several decades, Frank was our leader and a dominant force in our careers. He influenced our research, our clinical activities, and our professional development. At a time in medicine when the humanistic qualities of a physician were being defined and questioned, Frank personified those ideals and qualities for all of us. In an era when teaching of students was given a lower priority, Frank led the way in pursuing the goals of education at the bedside and in the classroom. He was the major teacher of gastrointestinal physiology at the University of Pennsylvania for 37 graduating classes. His dedication and commitment as a physician and as a teacher, even at this local medical school level, were always his very best. Frank considered the student evaluations of his
GASTROENTEROLOGY Vol. 95, No.6
lectures to be as important as his national recognition as a leader in our field. Frank's total dedication to the education of young physicians is in itself a remarkable achievement. Throughout his career of academic and personal achievement, Frank has had the good fortune of sharing his life and career with his wife Emily. Emily has not only been a constant companion to Frank throughout his career, she has also been a leader in her own right. She has participated in and personally directed many of the successful support programs at Penn. Frank and Emily are blessed by the dedication and support of wonderful children and grandchildren. They are an important and integral part of Frank's life and share fully in his active professional career. I can think of no person who better personifies the ideals of this award and who more deserves the recognition of this Association. I consider it to be a personal privilege to have worked with Frank and I was deeply honored to be able to tell him personally last summer that he was this year's recipient of the Friedenwald Medal. During a point this past summer when Frank was seriously ill and in considerable pain, he continued to pursue his interests in this Association and in the field of gastroenterology. Frank handled his illness with courage and honesty, not with anger or hostility. He dealt with his illness much as he dealt with the other personal and professional aspects of his life. He continued to be our leader and our friend even during this period of personal difficulty. I know that Frank will share this award and the honor of our recognition with his wife Emily, his children, and his grandchildren. Frank, on behalf of the American Gastroenterological Association I am honored to present to you our highest recognition of achievement and leadership, the Julius Friedenwald Medal. SIDNEY COHEN, M.D.
Received June 27, 1988. Accepted June 27, 1988. Address requests for reprints to: Sidney Cohen, M.D., Department of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140. This award was presented at the 89th Annual Meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association on May 16, 1988, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Presentation of the Friedenwald Medal to Frank Pickering Brooks, M.D.
I
t is my privilege today to present the Julius Friedenwald Medal to Dr. Frank Pickering Brooks. This award is given annually by the American Gastroenterological Association in recognition of a lifetime achievement in gastroenterology. To place the contributions of Frank Brooks to our profession in perspective, I will attempt to highlight both his professional and his personal qualities. Frank Brooks was a part of the golden era of gastrointestinal physiology, a period when major advances were made in our understanding of how the gut functions in normal and abnormal states. He, along with great physiologists such as Morton Grossman, Charles Code, and Franz Ingelfinger, dominated these meetings presenting the major advances in gastrointestinal physiology. Frank's presence at the plenary session, as well as at the gastric and pancreatic sessions, has been a critical part of the history of
gastrointestinal physiology and of the Americari Gastroenterological Association. His research, commentaries at our meetings, and leadership in investigation are woven into the fabric of this organization and into the field of gastroenterology. Frank Brooks was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1920. He graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He attended the Dartmouth 2-year medical school, completing his medical education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was destined to return to serve his distinguished academic career. Frank served 2 years of active duty in the Navy, including sea duty. He then developed his skills in clinical gastroenterology at the Lahey Clinic in Bos© 1988 by the American Gastroenterological Association
0016-5085/88/$3.50
1448 COHEN
ton working under Dr. Sara Jordan. He was trained in the basic science discipline of physiology under Dr. J. Earl Thomas at Jefferson Medical College. His first research dealt with the effects of alcohol and gastric juice on pancreatic exocrine secretion, an area in which he continued to be productive throughout his research career. Frank Brooks has spent his entire professional career of 37 years at the University of Pennsylvania. Here, he followed Dr. T. Grier Miller and Dr. Thomas Machella in leading one of the finest and most distinguished gastroenterology research and training programs in the world. Frank conducted a large and successful research program in gastric and pancreatic physiology. He bridged two departments, teaching and conducting research in Physiology and in Medicine. He trained many distinguished professors and practitioners not only in medicine but also in physiology, surgery, and veterinary medicine. His influence and impact in academia, industry, and clinical practice have been enormous. The field of gastroenterology is so much richer because of his contributions. Frank Brooks is predominantly recognized as an investigator. Additionally, he has served a major leadership role as President of the AGA and a member of the Digestive Diseases Commission, the NIH Study Section and Council, and the American Board of Internal Medicine, as well as the American Physiological Society. He has helped to shape the identity of our profession as it currently exists as a clinical and research discipline. For those of us who passed through the GI Program at the University of Pennsylvania during the past several decades, Frank was our leader and a dominant force in our careers. He influenced our research, our clinical activities, and our professional development. At a time in medicine when the humanistic qualities of a physician were being defined and questioned, Frank personified those ideals and qualities for all of us. In an era when teaching of students was given a lower priority, Frank led the way in pursuing the goals of education at the bedside and in the classroom. He was the major teacher of gastrointestinal physiology at the University of Pennsylvania for 37 graduating classes. His dedication and commitment as a physician and as a teacher, even at this local medical school level, were always his very best. Frank considered the student evaluations of his
GASTROENTEROLOGY Vol. 95, No.6
lectures to be as important as his national recognition as a leader in our field. Frank's total dedication to the education of young physicians is in itself a remarkable achievement. Throughout his career of academic and personal achievement, Frank has had the good fortune of sharing his life and career with his wife Emily. Emily has not only been a constant companion to Frank throughout his career, she has also been a leader in her own right. She has participated in and personally directed many of the successful support programs at Penn. Frank and Emily are blessed by the dedication and support of wonderful children and grandchildren. They are an important and integral part of Frank's life and share fully in his active professional career. I can think of no person who better personifies the ideals of this award and who more deserves the recognition of this Association. I consider it to be a personal privilege to have worked with Frank and I was deeply honored to be able to tell him personally last summer that he was this year's recipient of the Friedenwald Medal. During a point this past summer when Frank was seriously ill and in considerable pain, he continued to pursue his interests in this Association and in the field of gastroenterology. Frank handled his illness with courage and honesty, not with anger or hostility. He dealt with his illness much as he dealt with the other personal and professional aspects of his life. He continued to be our leader and our friend even during this period of personal difficulty. I know that Frank will share this award and the honor of our recognition with his wife Emily, his children, and his grandchildren. Frank, on behalf of the American Gastroenterological Association I am honored to present to you our highest recognition of achievement and leadership, the Julius Friedenwald Medal. SIDNEY COHEN, M.D.
Received June 27, 1988. Accepted June 27, 1988. Address requests for reprints to: Sidney Cohen, M.D., Department of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140. This award was presented at the 89th Annual Meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association on May 16, 1988, in New Orleans, Louisiana.