John H. Foster 1921–1988

Abstract

Born Dec. 19, 1921, John Foster was a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of the University of Texas in 1948 and received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1952. John was older than his classmates because he enlisted in the Navy as a medical corpsman during World War II. He was among the first wave of Marines who landed on the beach at Guam. Later he served as an officer with the U.S. Navy Supply Corps before returning to college. After an internship in surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital under Dr. Alfred Blalock, Dr. Foster came to Vanderbilt to join Dr. H. William Scott, Jr., then the new Chairman in the Department of Surgery at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. After full residency training in general and thoracic surgery, Dr. Foster spent a year in Sweden at the University of Lund as a Fellow in Surgery on Professor Philip Sandblom's service. Dr. Foster returned to Vanderbilt on the full-time faculty in the Department of Surgery where he rose rapidly in the academic ranks to full Professor of Surgery in 1967. John Foster was always a superb scholar. His major interest was in vascular surgery, which began when he was a resident in the S.R. Light Surgical Research Laboratory at Vanderbilt University. Pioneering efforts with vascular grafts were underway, and Dr. Foster was in the forefront of vascular graft developments. He established the arterial blood vessel homograft bank in the research laboratory. Some of these vessel grafts are functioning today in patients operated on 30 years ago. John Foster's research productivity was recognized by his appointment as Director of the S.R. Light Laboratory at Vanderbilt. He did a magnificent job in supervising and directing various research programs, helping surgical research fellows to develop an interest in research so that they could carry out laboratory and clinical investigations. Dr. Foster was in charge of a national clinical cooperative study of renal arterial hypertension. Another research project included studies in the prevention of toxic reaction incident to contrast angiography and development of a safer contrast medium. Portal hypertension, pulmonary tuberculosis, venous grafts, and low molecular weight dextran were only a few of his research interests. He published more than 150 articles in scientific journals. His leadership in vascular surgery was recognized by his election to the presidency of the North American Chapter of the International Society for Cardiovascular Surgery in 1974 and the presidency of the Southern Association for Vascular Surgery, an organization which he founded. He was also a member of many prestigious surgical societies, including the American Surgical Society, the Southern Surgical Association, the Society of University Surgeons, and the Society for Vascular Surgery. John Foster treasured his membership in the vascular surgery societies and never missed participation in the scientific programs until ill health prevented his attendance at the meetings. When Dr. Foster retired as Professor of Surgery at Vanderbilt University in 1979, he spent a year as Visiting Professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He married Agnes Laird Coupar on Sept. 7, 1945. Laird and John have three children, Kathrine Elizabeth, Judith Laird, and John Hoskins Foster III. John Foster is remembered at the Surgery Department of Vanderbilt University as a tireless investigator, dedicated teacher, and superb clinical surgeon. His contributions to vascular surgery helped enormously in the advancement of this specialty.