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(1931-2001) Dr. Eric Ferguson Glasgow died in Stanford University Hospital on January 3, 2001, after a brief illness. Most who knew him and worked with him were unaware of the severity of his illness -- acute myelogenous leukemia -- and indeed he had dutifully completed teaching what was to be his final class of students in Human Anatomy at the School of Medicine little more than two weeks before, on December 15, 2000.His death brought to an end a period of 15 years during which Dr. Glasgow had served as Professor of Anatomy at Stanford, dividing his time for much of that period between Stanford and his home institution -- Monash University, in Melbourne, Australia.The teaching of Anatomy is a continuing challenge for American Schools of Medicine, since fewer and fewer young American doctors and doctoral graduates are prepared to teach this subject. Stanford was very fortunate to have created this long and very productive teaching relationship with a person of Dr. Glasgow's background and unique teaching skills. In addition to his own presence on our teaching faculty, Dr. Glasgow arranged for young Australian anatomists to spend time each year teaching here at Stanford as well. Over the years well over fifty such young instructors were subsequently able to list Stanford as one of their teaching posts. Eric Ferguson Glasgow was born on August 16, 1931, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.His early schooling was in Northern Ireland, at Cookstown in County Tyrone, and at Magherafelt. He then graduated from Queen's University in Belfast with an MB, BCh degree -- the equivalent of the American MD degree -- in 1954. Eighteen years later, in 1972, he received the MD degree from the same University. In Northern Ireland and throughout the British system, the MD degree signifies special accomplishment in scientific research and scholarship. His thesis for the MD degree dealt with ultrastructural studies of pediatric renal diseases, and from that point onward his investigative focus was in Nephrology. Upon his graduation in 1954, Eric embarked on a series of appointments and affiliations which landed him permanently in Australia in 1959, first at the University of Western Australia.From the beginning his academic positions involved the teaching of anatomy. As time went on, the teaching of anatomy to medical students, young physicians and advanced practitioners occupied a larger and larger share of his time and energy. In 1965 he joined the faculty of Monash University in Melbourne Australia, the University which was to be his academic home base for the remainder of his life. He rose steadily through the academic ranks of the Department of Anatomy, and became Associate Professor in 1972. He also served as Deputy Chairman of Anatomy in Monash until the time of his partial retirement in 1995.He began his role as visiting professor at Stanford in 1979, and taught here in alternate years until 1985, when his presence became a yearly event.In what became his final years he had established yet another "beachhead" for teaching anatomy, this time at the New Chinese University in Hong Kong, and indeed in the summer of 2001 he was to have returned there and participated both in teaching anatomy and encouraging the scholarly work of young graduate students. Regarding the investigative side of his career, he spent 20 years as Honorary Renal Pathologist at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, and served as an Executive for the Australian Kidney Foundation. At the same time, he continued as a very productive researcher, publishing several dozen articles and book chapters in the field of Nephrology over the next three decades.For 15 years he was a member of the executive council of Interserve, a missionary organization in which Eric could express his gifts and commitment to the principles of Christianity, themes which deeply governed his life and guided his activities throughout his life. Eric's accomplishments as a scholar and teacher earned him a variety of awards and recognitions. He was voted on several occasions the recipient of the Henry Kaiser Award for Preclinical Teaching here at Stanford, and earned several similar recognitions in Australia.He was awarded a Silver Jubilee Teaching Prize at Monash in 1988, and in 1999 was awarded the Order of Australia, in recognition of both his medical and community work. The Order of Australia is the highest national award in Australia, and is equivalent to a knighthood in Commonwealth days. While at Stanford he became friend and wise counsel to many of his students, and served on the Admissions Panel. He encouraged students in cultural activities here at Stanford, and himself sang each year in the Stanford Chorus. He was an avid participant in the annual formal ball at the medical school, introducing many students for the first time to the mysteries of the tuxedo and the Viennese waltz. Any who heard his annual lecture on Leonardo Da Vinci and Anatomy were spellbound with the expressions of human spirit and creativity he was able to illustrate with the work of Leonardo and other Renaissance artists. Eric was a devotee of the arts, enjoying fine writing, visual arts, and enjoying the many musical offerings in opera and classical music available here in the Bay Area. He also had a reputation as a warm host, opening his home to colleagues, students and friends to enjoy fine food and drink.He leaves a similar legacy in Australia, where his lengthy breakfasts and celebrations of Royal events remain happy memories in the minds of his many friends and colleagues there. The thousands of Stanford students and colleagues who worked with Eric Glasgow will remember him for his intelligence, wit, urbanity, and infectious enthusiasm. His sense of humor was finely honed and occasionally sharp, and he was demanding of the highest standards in the work of his students. Those who put forth the effort to meet his standards of knowledge and understanding came to respect him as one of the finest teachers they had ever met.He was truly a cultured man, and had the rare ability to "connect" with even the youngest of his students. He inspired them not only to aspire to his level of knowledge and understanding, but also to admire his obvious love for life, and to strive to reach his appreciation for the rich diversity of people he encountered throughout his distinguished career. His devotion to excellence in the training of students sets a high standard which those of us who remain will try to match, and in so doing will honor the memory of this remarkable man. Committee: Lawrence H. Mathers,
Jr.
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Stanford Report, April 25, 2001
