Historical perspectives of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery: Adrian V. S. Lambert (1872–1952)

Abstract

FIGURE 1. Adrian Van Sinderen Lambert. Adrian Van Sinderen Lambert (Figure 1), the 22nd president of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), was born in New York City on June 30, 1872, the ninth child of Dr and Mrs EdwardWilberforce Lambert. He attended a small private school in New York City and then, like his father and 2 of his older siblings (Samuel Waldron and Alexander), enrolled in Yale University. In addition to the typical premedical curriculum, he also broadened his education to include French, German, and 3 years of Greek. During his junior year, he was ‘‘tapped’’ and inducted into the Skull and Bones secret society, an honor reserved for a select few regarded as campus leaders. Lambert graduated in 1893 and matriculated at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S), following in the footsteps of his father, brothers, and uncle Alfred. He graduated in 1896 and spent a year in a medical internship at New York Hospital. In 1897, he stayed on as a surgical intern, but his internship was interrupted by a freakish accident—his right eye was splashed during a procedure. This led to the development of gonorrheal ophthalmia, which eventually required the enucleation of his eye and resulted in his leaving the residency program. Heading to Europe, Lambert went to Berlin, Vienna, and Munich to study pathology. He had not given up the thought of being a surgeon, so he learned to adapt to the use of a single eye by cuttingmeat in a butcher shop as well as performing autopsies and anatomic prosections. Thus, when he returned to New York City at the turn of the century, he was a master anatomist and was able to obtain a position as an assistant demonstrator in anatomy at P&S. His interest in anatomy and pathology was a lifelong pursuit, and he made contributions in the neurosciences, helping to identify some of the cerebral pathways in primates and demonstrating the communication of the cerebral ventricles in wax casts made from cadaveric brains. In 1904, Lambert became an assistant surgeon in the outpatient service at Bellevue Hospital, and the following year he became an instructor in surgery at P&S. Although he maintained his academic affiliation with P&S (eventually