Richardson, Edward Peirson, 1918-

Edward Peirson Richardson, Jr. (1918-1998), AB, 1939, Harvard College; MD, 1943, Harvard Medical School, was Bullard Professor of Neuropathology at Harvard Medical School, and a neuropathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital where he was the first to describe a number of brain disorders. In 1949, Richardson became assistant to Dr. Charles S. Kubik at Massachusetts General Hospital, whom he succeeded as Chief Neuropathologist in 1951; he was director of the Kubik Laboratory for Neuropathology from 1954 to 1989. Richardson was appointed assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in 1949, and eventually became Bullard Professor of Neuropathology in 1984. Richardson's contributions to neuropathology included original description of several brain disorders, including progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, and research on Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Huntington's and Alzheimer's diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus, the leukodystrophies, and other demyelinating and neurodegenerative disorders.

Edward Peirson Richardson, Jr. (EPR Jr.) MD, was a neuropathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Bullard Professor of Neuropathology at Harvard Medical School (HMS) who studied brain disorders. The son of Edward Peirson Richardson, Sr. (1881-1944) and Clara Shattuck Richardson (1883-1921), he was born on 3 April 1918 at MGH in Boston, Massachusetts. His paternal grandfather, Maurice Howe Richardson (1856-1912), was the first chief of surgery at MGH, and his father, EPR Sr., served as chief of the West Surgical Service at MGH. His maternal grandfather, Frederick Cheever Shattuck (1847-1929), was chief of MGH’s East Medical Service. EPR Jr. received the AB from Harvard College in 1939, and then received the MD from HMS as a member of the Class of 1943. He married Margaret “Peggy” Eustis in 1951, and they had three children.

Following graduation, EPR Jr. served briefly as a medical intern at MGH before becoming a neuropsychiatrist in the US Army. In 1946, he returned to MGH to study neurology and psychiatry under Dr. Stanley Cobb. For fifteen months during 1947-1948, EPR Jr. studied at The National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in Queen’s Square, and The Maudsley Hospital, in London. He returned to MGH in 1949 as an assistant in neuropathology to Dr. Charles S. Kubik, whom he succeeded as Chief Neuropathologist in 1951. In 1954, he became director of the neuropathology laboratory that was subsequently named after Dr. Kubik, a position he held until 1989.

EPR Jr. was appointed assistant professor at HMS in 1960, Professor of Neuropathology in 1974, and Bullard Professor of Neuropathology in 1984. In addition, he held a number of international posts and visiting professorships, including appointments in Germany, Switzerland, and Australia. He trained and mentored many HMS medical students, MGH residents, and international fellows in neurology, neuroanatomy, and neuropathology. He was course director at HMS for the Neurology-Neuropathology Course from 1972-1989.

EPR Jr.’s contributions to neuropathology included the original description of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), and research on Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), tuberous sclerosis, the leukodystrophies, and other demyelinating and neurodegenerative disorders.

He frequently contributed to professional publications on topics concerning neurology and neuropathology, and served as an editor for a number of journals, including Acta Neuropathologica, Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, and Neurology. For over fifty years, he regularly contributed to the Cabot Clinicopathological Cases, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. He co-edited a volume of articles, Neurologic Clinicopathological Conferences of the Massachusetts General Hospital, with Benjamin Castleman (1968), and co-wrote a volume, Pathology of the Peripheral Nerve, with Umberto De Girolami (1995).

EPR Jr. maintained active memberships in many professional societies. He was Secretary-Treasurer, then President of the American Association of Neuropathologists (1973-1974), and received its Award for Meritorious Services to Neuropathology (1988). He became a member of the American Neurological Association (1961), serving as First Vice President (1970-1971), and Honorary Member (1993). He was on the Advisory Committee of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (1974-1977), and served on the Medical Advisory Board (1975-1996). He was elected to membership in the Royal Academy of Medicine (1984), and was invited to be the Litchfield Lecturer at Oxford, England (1975, 1990). He received the Senior Scientist Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (1982). He was an active consultant to the National Institutes of Health (1966-1973).

EPR Jr. died at home in Brookline, Massachusetts on 30 November 1998, at age 80. A memorial service was held at the First and Second Church, Boston, on 23 January 1999.