April 2006

 Retired Emory Surgeon Dr. Roger Sherman Passes Away

On April 9, 2006, Roger T. Sherman, MD, passed away at his home. He was 82. From 1983 to 1993, Dr. Sherman was the chief of surgery and director of the trauma and burn services at Grady Memorial Hospital. He then served as the William G. Whitaker, Jr., Professor of Surgery and director of surgical education at Piedmont Hospital until his retirement from the Department of Surgery at Emory in 1998.

A widely respected educator in the field of surgery, Dr. Sherman was known for his surgical skills, bedside manner and medical ethics, which he conveyed to thousands of young medical students, residents and interns during a career spanning nearly 40 years. In speaking of his life and vocation, Dr. Sherman once said: "Surgery. The opening, exploration and repair of the living human body is an awesome responsibility afforded to only a few. To be privileged to be counted among those is a high honor, surpassed only by being trusted to teach others this demanding and marvelous craft."

After earning his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1948, Dr. Sherman served in the U.S. Army at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The recipient of multiple teaching awards, his remarkable career as an educator began as an Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Tennessee at Memphis. In 1972, he became Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of South Florida Medical School in Tampa, a position he held until coming to Emory in 1983.

In conjunction with his Emory-based achievements, Dr. Sherman’s career-long interest in the treatment of the injured was exercised by his service on the National Research Council Committee on Trauma and the American College of Surgeons Committee of Trauma, his term as president of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma and his status as a founding member of the American Trauma Society. He also received numerous commendations for outstanding contributions to the study of trauma, including the 1987 Curtis P. Artz Award from the American Trauma Society and an honorary membership in the Institute of Accident Surgery in Great Britain. His service as both president from 1984-85 and secretary director from 1986-93 of the Southeastern Surgical Congress inspired the organization’s sponsorship of an annual lecture in his name. He was also a member of more than 35 other national and international surgical societies.

In addition to his membership on the Surgery Residency Review Committee, Dr. Sherman’s commitment to graduate surgical education was underscored by his terms as director of both the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Emergency Medicine. His devotion to the classroom was recognized by such honors as the “Golden Apple” from the Student American Medical Association, the “Best Clinical Professor” commendation from the Emory Senior Class of 1985 and the prestigious, campus-wide Emory Williams Distinguished Teaching Award.

<<::Back to 2006 News and Achievements

return to top