Associate Professor of Anesthesiology; State University of New York at Buffalo; Chief; Anesthesiology Services; Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System; Buffalo, New York; Bacon.Douglas_R@Buffalo.VA.GOVTo the Editor: - I read with fascination the article by Gravenstein [1]about Henry K. Beecher. The author is to be commended for including so many interesting, personal antidotes about Dr. Beecher. This paper humanizes a historic person in a unique way, making Dr. Beecher's personality available to those who never had the chance to meet him.However, the historic record does not support Dr. Gravenstein's thesis. Dr. Beecher did not, as Gravenstein wrote, make anesthesiology a university specialty. In fact, despite the author's comments to the contrary, Beecher's contributions to the academic practice of the specialty are modest when compared to his contemporaries. The man who did more to make anesthesiology an equal in the university setting was Ralph Milton Waters of the University of Wisconsin. His teaching and departmental organization are used in more than 60% of the academic departments in the United States. [2]Richard Kitz, Beecher's successor, is from this lineage, and no doubt, even at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the influence of Ralph Waters prevails.It is interesting to compare the appointments of the chief of anesthesia at the MGH in 1936 with the same position at Baseline Hospital in New York City a year previously. Beecher, after completing 3 yr of training as a surgical house officer and a year working with August Krogh, the Danish Noble Laureate, [3]was appointed assistant anesthetist at MGH and instructor in anesthesia at Harvard. Five months later, with the departure of Howard H. Bradshaw, Beecher became anesthetist in chief at MGH, backed by the chairman of surgery, Edward D. Churchill. [4]By contrast, at Bellevue, the chairman of surgery, Arthur Wright, searched for the best-trained physician possible to head the anesthesia section. His choice was a junior faculty member of Ralph Waters' department in Madison, Wisconsin who had completed an internship, practiced as an internist for several years, and completed 3 yr of residency training in anesthesiology! Emery Andrew Rovenstine brought innovative anesthetic techniques and agents to Bellevue because he had been formally trained to do so; he also began to develop an extensive collaborative research relationship with the basic scientists at New York University. Within 2 yr of his arrival in New York, the Bellevue program rivaled any other program in the country. Over the next 20 yr, Rovenstine's program was the most successful and influential in the country, training more departmental chairs than any other university program. [2]In must admit that I am somewhat perplexed by Dr. Gravenstein's statement that Beecher's relationship with organized anesthesia began with some difficulties. [1]Dr. Beecher was admitted to membership in the American Society of Anesthetists (ASA) on September 2, 1939. [5]However, Beecher would not have initially qualified for an advanced category of ASA membership called