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Dr. George J. Heuer was born in Madison, Wisconsin in the year 1882.
After receiving his B.S. in 1903 from the University of Wisconsin, he earned
his M.D. Degree at Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1907. He then spent four
years as Assistant Resident and three years as Resident in Surgery under Dr.
Halsted at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. At the outbreak of World War I, he was
pursuing further study as an exchange fellow in Breslau, Germany. He joined the
Medical Corps of the American Army in France where he was one of the chief
surgeons in Evacuation Hospital #1 at Toul. Following the war, he returned to
Johns Hopkins and served there as Associate Professor of Surgery until 1922. At
that time, he was appointed Professor of Surgery at the University of
Cincinnati and Chief Surgeon of the Cincinnati General Hospital. In 1932, he
became Lewis Atterbury Stimson Professor of Surgery atCornell University
Medical College, and Surgeon-in-Chief to The New York Hospital. He retired from
these positions in 1947, remaining Professor Emeritus and Consultant in Surgery
to the New York Hospital until his death in 1950.
A review of his activities, not all of which are sufficiently reflected
in his publications, reveal a man of rare excellence in diverse surgical
fields. Early in his career, he contributed considerably in the field of
neurosurgery. His dissertations on pituitary tumors are perhaps his best known.
On the abdomen, his papers on biliary tract disease and peptic ulcer improved
both understanding arid treatment. He also took a lively interest in the
problems of hypertension and surgery of trauma.
In addition to his involvement in these many areas, Dr. Heuer had
cultivated, early in his career, a great concern for the problems in the
relatively new field of thoracic surgery. In the year 1914, he and his
associates realized the defects of mass hilar ligation in pulmonary resection
and began researching the problem, only to be interrupted by the war. Yet their
work produced the method of bronchial closure used in pneumonectomy today.
Their other observations on the post-operative course in such cases have also
stood the test of time. Dr. Heuer's method of esophageal resection with
transplantation of the diaphragm was ingenious, but he readily admitted its deficits.
His papers on mediastinal and chest wall tumors are classic. Pericardiectomy
for constrictive pericarditis became thoroughly acceptable procedure following
his work. Dr. Heuer was a distinguished member of most of the name societies
and served as President of the AATS in 1934.
Despite his dedication to all these projects, it is likely that George
Heuer considered them subsidiary to his one primary aim, that of serving as an
educator devoted to adequate training of young surgeons.. Having been trained
under the Halsted System, he worked diligently for expansion of this system,
first in Cincinnati and then in New York. His contemporaries, students and
residents were quite justified in often referring to him as the complete
surgeon. When he retired in 1947, a host of his trainees continued his
teachings, which brought him the greatest possible satisfaction.
Dr. Heuer died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on December 15, 1950.
Dr.
George J. Heuer
