Dr. Robert E. Scully: a tribute

Abstract

Robert E. Scully, MD, FRCPath, a giant in the field of pathology and the leading gynecologic pathologist of the last half century, died on October 30, 2012. He was born on August 31, 1921, graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1944, trained in pathology at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now Brigham and Women’s Hospital) and affiliated obstetric and gynecologic hospitals, and joined the faculty of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in 1950, remaining there (except for 2 years in the US army) until he retired in 2004. Dr. Scully developed an early interest in gynecologic pathology, having spent time with Dr. Arthur T. Hertig during his training. His first papers, however, were on testicular tumors; he quickly became an expert in that area which remained a lifelong interest. His description of gonadoblastoma in 1953 heralded a similar major interest in the pathology of intersex. In 1958, Dr. Scully coauthored a book, Endocrine Pathology of the Ovary, which enhanced the reputation he was already acquiring for expertise in gynecologic pathology. The detailed coverage of sex cord stromal tumors of the ovary first revealed to a wide audience Dr. Scully’s knowledge of unusual ovarian tumors, and he began to receive unusual cases in consultation. As years went by, the accrual of more and more interesting cases provided material for an increasing number of publications. The cases received for a second opinion eventually numbered over 27,000. He looked at them from early in the morning until late in the day. Saturdays and Sundays were no different albeit he would leave a little earlier in the afternoon than during the work week. If this may suggest someone who was “all work and no play,”Dr. Scully was a man of wide interests following sports, particularly his beloved Boston Red Sox, and the wider world with an interest in politics and the arts. The number of articles describing new entities over the next decades is remarkable, perhaps the most significant being descriptions of special forms of sex cord stromal tumors such as juvenile granulosa cell tumor, the distinctive E. Oliva :R. H. Young James Homer Wright Pathology Laboratories, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA