Olson, James Stuart, 1946-....

Dr. Peter Almond was born in Downton Wiltshire, England in 1937. He received in undergraduate honors degree in physics from Nottingham University in 1958 and training in Medical Physics from Bristol University in 1959. Afterwards, he moved to Houston, Texas and received his Master’s Degree and his doctoral degree in Nuclear Physics from Rice University. He joined the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in 1964 as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Biophysics; he became an Assistant Professor and Assistant Physics the following year. When he left the institution in 1985, he was a Professor of Biophysics, Head of the Radiation Physics Section, and the Director of the Cyclotron Unit in Department of Physics. From 1985 to 1988, Dr. Almond was the Vice Chairman of Research and Professor in the department of Radiation Oncology at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center of the University of Louisville. Following his retirement, he returned to MD Anderson to teach part-time in the Department of Radiation Physics.

From the guide to the Peter Almond interview OH-GehanE-20040604., June 4, 2004, (Historical Resources Center, Research Medical Library, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center)

Dr. Charles Aubrey (Mickey) LeMaistre studied at the University of Alabama and earned his M.D. at Cornell University, 1947. At the time, his interest encompassed Tuberculosis and infectious diseases. Dr. LeMaistre began his medical career split between teaching and in the U. S. Public Health Service, Epidemic Intelligence Service. While in the service he met his wife Joyce Trapp LeMaistre. They have four children. The basic values of family and faith have been important and influential aspect of Dr. LeMaistre’s personal life and professional administrative career.

Dr. LeMaistre’s highlighted accomplishments throughout his career include his work in creating and expanding health units at numerous universities across the state of Texas. In 1964, Dr. LeMaistre was the youngest member of the U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health that published a report on tobacco as the major cause of lung cancer. He is known as a world leading authority on the topic.

Dr. LeMaistre taught at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia and at the Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas. Dr. LeMaistre became vice Chancellor of health affairs of the University of Texas System, based in Austin in 1966. He was Chancellor-elect from 1971-1978. One of his last accomplishments as Chancellor was acquiring a copy of the Gutenberg Bible for the Harry Ransom Center.

After twelve years in Austin, Dr. LeMaistre became the second president of M. D. Anderson in 1978. His leadership and administrative skills are well recognized for aiding in the increase in the size and scope of the institution as well as building and maintaining the reputation of M. D. Anderson as a leading institution in cancer research and treatment. Dr. LeMaistre has received many awards and recognition for his work over the years. He retired from M. D. Anderson August 1996.

From the guide to the Charles A. LeMaistre Oral History Interview 1, Lemaistre_Charles_20040506., May 6, 2004, (Historical Resources Center, Research Medical Library, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center)

Edmund A. Gehan, Ph.D., was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1929. He attended Manhattan College where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. Gehan was awarded his Doctorate in Applied Statistics from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He taught Applied Statistics from 1955 to 1957. He worked for the National Institute of Health (NIH) in 1958 and was the head of the Biometrics Section of the Cancer Chemotherapy National Service Center in 1959. He was a member of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Gehan’s work in Biostatistics brought him to Houston as a professor at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in 1967; the institution was a member of the Southwest Oncology Group at that time. Prior to his appointment at M. D. Anderson, he collaborated with Drs. Emil Frei III and Emil J. Freireich cancer research. Gehan has coauthored numerous articles that influenced the development of cancer research with the use of data analysis in clinical trials. Two of which include the 1965 Biometika journal article “A Generalized Wilcoxon test for Comparing Arbitrarily Singly-Censored Samples” and the 1974 New England Medical Journal article “Non-randomized Controls in Cancer Clinical Trials.

Since 1994, Gehan is a Professor Emeritus of Biostatistics at Georgetown University Medical Center.

From the guide to the Edmund Gehan oral history, OH-GehanE-20030328., March 28, 2003, (Historical Resources Center, Research Medical Library, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center)