Report on the Ralph Waters 75th Anniversary Meeting

Abstract

A meeting celebrating the 75th anniversary of the beginning of academic anesthesia was held in Madison, Wisconsin, June 6-8, 2002. The meeting marked the arrival of Dr. Ralph Waters in February, 1927, at the University of Wisconsin as chair of the division of anesthesia. The Waters department went on to train the leaders of our specialty and still plays an important role today through descendents of the original Waters trainees. Meeting sponsors were the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, the Anesthesia History Association, the History of Anaesthesia Society (Great Britain), the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Society of Anesthesiologists. Aqualumni (those trained by Ralph Waters) who attended were Drs. Lucien Morris of Bainbridge Island, WA; Carlos Parlsoe of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Merel Harmel of Chapel Hill, NC. Videotaped messages were received from Aqualumni Drs. Jone Wu of China and Torsten Gordh of Sweden. The remaining Aqualumna, Dr. Rosalie Wilhelm of Oakland, CA, was unable to attend. Other attendees included large contingents from Great Britain and the Wisconsin Society University of Wisconsin (UW) Medical School began by announcing the new Ralph M. Waters Chair which was awarded to current UW department chair, Dr. Susan L. Goelzer. This new chair designation had been voted on by the Regents of the University that very day. Dr. Robert Joy, Professor Emeritus and founding chairman of the Department of Medical History at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, was the opendelphia presented some current issues of professionalism (the meeting’s subtitle was “Professionalism in Anesthesiology, A Celebration of 75 Years). More papers followed in the afternoon. The Friday night banquet included two of the Waters’ children and their families. On Saturday, Sir Keith Sykes presented the effect of Waters on British anesthesia. The Saturday lunch program was dramatic, featuring videos from international