Illinois Medicine

I L L I N O I S M E D I C I N E | 49 2005, the department of obstetrics and gynecology has held the yearly Antonio Scommegna, MD Symposium in his honor. After retirement, he cultivated grapes and bottled wine at a small vineyard in southern Wisconsin. Scommegna and his wife, Lillian, had three children and five grandchildren. William E. Sorlie, PhD '84, passed away in late 2016. An administrator in the College of Medicine at Urbana- Champaign for 29 years, where he also received his PhD, Sorlie retired as the associate dean for academic student affairs in 1999. Considered to be one of the founders of the College of Medicine in Urbana, he had been employed on that campus since its inception in 1970. Sorlie originated the school's curriculum design by facilitating the educational components of the M1 program using written learning units. He is also recognized as one of the creators of the clinical science curriculum, which was established in 1978 to offer a full four-year program granting the MD degree. Sorlie was preceded in death by his wife of 32 years, Diane Essex- Sorlie, MD, who also devoted her life to serving the COM. Her 30-year career included teaching and research until she retired in 2001 as a professor emeritus in internal medicine, epidemiology and medical statistics. ALUMNI George J. Cooper '37, MD '40, died in early 2016. Cooper was 102 years young and the beloved husband of the late Ida (nee Grusin) and the late Trudi Spreckman Cooper (nee Caplan). He was the father of four and grandfather of eight. William R. Best '45, MD '47, Res '51, died on March 20. Born in Chicago, Best was an Army veteran and practicing VA Cooperative Studies Program in Washington, D.C. He had multiple articles published in medical literature with special emphasis on statistics and computers in medicine. Best's hobbies included sailing, collecting artwork, and volunteering at the Art Institute of Chicago. He and his wife, Ruth, had two daughters, hematologist. He previously served as associate dean and chief of staff of the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, chief of staff at Hines VA Hospital in Maywood, Ill., professor of medicine and associate dean for veterans' affairs at Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, and acting chief of the four grandchildren and two great- granddaughters. Melvin Goodman '55, MD '56, died in July 2016. Goodman was the beloved husband of Edith Goodman, the father of three and the proud grandfather of seven. William E. Sorlie FOUNDING HEAD OF THE COM'S DEPARTMENT OF NEUROLOGY The study of neurology at the College of Medicine will always trace back to John S. Garvin '42, MD '44, professor emeritus and founding head of the department of neurology, who led it for 18 years. He passed away in November 2016. In a long career that spanned from the 1940s to the 1980s, Garvin built a national reputation in the field and was often called "the neurologist's neurologist." It wasn't just a nickname — many in the field who needed to consult an esteemed colleague would turn to Garvin. "Dr. Garvin was to become one of the most gifted neurological clinicians in America and among the first academic, university-based neurologists in Chicago," said James Stone, MD, a fellow professor and former student of Garvin's, who is chief of neurosurgery at Manhattan Veteran's Administration Hospital (now officially called the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System) and professor of neurosurgery at New York University Medical Center. "He displayed ideal temperament and represented the highest ethical conduct and professionalism imaginable." Garvin, who grew up in the small farming community of Windsor, Ill., about 200 miles south of Chicago, gained international experience as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1946 to 1948, and then for a year in England as a Fulbright Fellow at the prestigious National Hospital in London. While building his decades-long legacy of teaching and clinical work at the COM, Garvin also made an impact through his work in many area communities, serving as a senior attending neurologist and consulting neurologist at several Chicago-area hospitals including Presbyterian/St. Luke's, St. Francis, Mercy, and the Veteran's Administrative West Side Hospital (which later would become the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center). Under his guidance, the COM's neurology department— which was created in 1970 — grew to become a nationally ranked department that emphasized the treatment of epilepsy, neuromuscular diseases, strokes and neurologic diseases in children. Garvin was also a member of numerous professional and academic organizations, including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Neurology, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Illinois State Medical Society, American Epilepsy Society and the Chicago Medical Society. His legacy continues to impact the university and world of medicine. In 1996, Garvin and his sisters endowed the John S. Garvin Professorship of Neurology, which is currently held by Jeffrey Loeb, MD, PhD, the head of the department of neurology and rehabilitation at the COM Chicago. —Dan Baron John S. Garvin '40 '47 '56

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