Stewart, Harold L. (Harold Leroy), 1899-1998

Physician, medical researcher.

Dr. Harold Leroy Stewart was born in Houtzdale, PA in 1899. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Dickinson College after serving in the US Marine Corps during World War I. He earned his MD from Jefferson Medical College in 1926. After completing several postdoctoral fellowships and faculty appointments at Philadelphia General Hospital, Jefferson Medical College and Harvard University, Dr. Stewart became the first Chief of the Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, in 1939. Except for a brief four-year assignment to Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco during World War II, Dr. Stewart spent the rest of his career with NCI. It was at NCI that Dr. Stewart, along with his longtime colleague Dr. Thelma Dunn, pioneered methods to induce cancer of the stomach and intestines in experimental animals. His research became the first animal tumor model system for the study of gastric cancer in humans. In 1954 he was appointed chief of the Pathological Anatomy Department at NIH. Dr. Stewart also was Professor of Pathology at Georgetown University. He retired from NIH in 1969 as scientist emeritus, but continued to serve as a consultant for many years afterwards. He published over 250 articles during his 70 year professional career, trained research scientists from over 20 countries, and served many national and international organizations including the World Health Organization, the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (founder) and the International Academy of Pathology. Dr. Stewart died in Rockville, Maryland on May 30, 1998.

Dr. Harold Leroy Stewart was born in Houtzdale, PA in 1899. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Dickinson College after serving in the US Marine Corps during World War I. He earned his MD from Jefferson Medical College in 1926.

After completing several postdoctoral fellowships and faculty appointments at Philadelphia General Hospital, Jefferson Medical College and Harvard University, Dr. Stewart became the first Chief of the Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, in 1939. Except for a brief four-year assignment to Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco during World War II, Dr. Stewart spent the rest of his career with NCI. It was at NCI that Dr. Stewart, along with his longtime colleague Dr. Thelma Dunn, pioneered methods to induce cancer of the stomach and intestines in experimental animals. His research became the first animal tumor model system for the study of gastric cancer in humans. In 1954 he was appointed chief of the Pathological Anatomy Department at NIH. Dr. Stewart also was Professor of Pathology at Georgetown University. He retired from NIH in 1969 as scientist emeritus, but continued to serve as a consultant for many years afterwards. He published over 250 articles during his 70 year professional career, trained research scientists from over 20 countries, and served many national and international organizations including the World Health Organization, the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (founder) and the International Academy of Pathology. Dr. Stewart died in Rockville, Maryland on May 30, 1998.