Presentation of the Morris F. Collen Award to Robert S. Ledley, DDS.

Abstract

Robert S. Ledley, DDS The following description, written by Daniel Masys, provides a historical perspective of the Morris F. Collen Award. “The American College of Medical Informatics is an honorary society established to recognize those who have made sustained contributions to the field. Since its founding in 1984, 170 fellows have been-elected to the College. Its highest award, for lifetime achievement and contributions to the discipline of medical informatics, is the Morris F. Collen Award. Dr. Collen's own efforts as a pioneer in the field stand as the embodiment of creativity, intellectual rigor, perseverance, and personal integrity. And so it is that the College gives its highest recognition to those whose attainments have, throughout their careers, substantially advanced the science and art of medical informatics.”1 The College is pleased to announce that Robert S. Ledley, DDS, is the 1998 recipient of the Morris F. Collen Award. Dr. Robert Ledley is a great inventor, scholar, scientist, teacher, and family man. He is witty, clever with words, and has a tremendous sense of humor. Although humble and shy in many ways, he is highly confident of his ability to achieve the impossible. He recognizes that he can invent almost anything. Today Dr. Robert Ledley is Professor of Radiology, Physiology and Biophysics and the Director of the National Biomedical Research Foundation at Georgetown University Medical Center. He was born about 60 years ago in Flushing, New York, where he lived his early years and went to school. He earned a doctorate in dental surgery from New York University in 1948, and a master's degree in mathematical physics from Columbia University the next year. In 1950, two years later, he married Terry Ledley. When they first met, he boldly told Terry he was going to “push forward the frontiers of scientific knowledge.” So, …