By David Woods, PhD, FCPP
Following a stellar career of
faculty and hospital appointments and a lengthy list of awards, honors and
honorary memberships, multiple publishing positions including that of chief
editor of the Annals of neurology,
and numerous publications and administrative positions, Art Asbury is what is
known in thoroughbred racing circles as a stayer: at 85, he still shows up
daily at the University of Pennsylvania as part of a research project exploring
genetic factors in diabetes.
Actually, the racing metaphor
is quite an appropriate one. His father, a surgeon, bred racehorses in Kentucky,
one of which, a colt named Determine, won the Kentucky Derby in 1954. Art
recalled that he was so excited he threw his hat in the air and never retrieved
it. Later, he too got into breeding thoroughbreds. And, to compound the
metaphor, he lived for 20 years in a converted horse barn in Center City before
moving some months ago to a condominium
at Naval Square, from where he walks the six blocks to Penn; or, if weather
precludes that, he’ll drive there in his trusty ten year old Honda.
Actually, Art is something of
a thoroughbred himself, having attended the upscale Phillips Academy in Andover
and completing his internship and residency in medicine, neurology and
pathology at prestigious Mass General and a teaching fellowship at Harvard. He
was chair of the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Neurology… and
served as vice dean for research, vice dean for faculty affairs , and for three
years as interim dean of that Ivy League University. He also became in 2002 a
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London, which required passing a
stringent exam. He did manage to get to the races while in the UK, though.
So why did he choose
neurology as a specialty? By chance, a friend at the University of Cincinnati,
where Art acquired his MD, in 1958, was a classmate who had worked as an EEG technician When he left that position, took it
on full-time for two summers. The research that he did then confirmed his
interest in neurology… and getting published in the Annals of Neurology, of which he later became chief editor between
1985 and 1992, cemented that interest. Neurology has changed dramatically
during his career, he says. It used to be “in the backyard – a subset of
medicine or psychiatry; now it’s a specialty in its own right.”
Among his more than 130
visiting professorships and invited lectureships were the Eric Kukelberg
keynote lecture in clinical neurophysiology in Israel and honorary
professorships at the teaching hospital at Shijiazhuang and the Hebei medical
college in China.
Between 1951 and 1953, Pfc.
Asbury saw active service in the US Army reserve at Fort Miley, Texas, where he
was an instructor in the Guided Missiles Group.
Not surprisingly, his biography has appeared
in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare, and Who's Who in
Education… and the Arthur K. Asbury award for outstanding faculty mentoring is
given to a senior faculty member at Penn Medical School annually.
His involvement in the
College of Physicians of Philadelphia dates back to 1974. He became president twice––in 1981 and in 2004; he also served as
interim CEO while the College was searching for a full-time executive director, eventually appointing Dr George
Wohlreich to that position, which Art believes was a very good move, given the poor
track record of a couple of the previous
incumbents.
Asked about some current
policy issues in healthcare, Art shows his diplomatic skill. Of the Affordable
Care Act he believes that it will be okay––if it works. Similarly, of the
prospect of a single-payer healthcare delivery system, he says the same thing…
but believes it would not be easy to put in place.
Art had three children
through his first marriage, which ended in divorce; and in 1980 he married
Carolyn Holstein, a Wharton PhD, who commutes daily to the Dana Foundation in
New York where she is an adviser on clinical neuroscience research proposals.
She leaves by train at 6:45 am and
returns in time for dinner at 8. The pair met at a medical conference in New
Orleans and, says Art,”I bypassed all the lectures and spent time talking and
talking with Carolyn.” Both of them are trustees of the College of Physicians
of Philadelphia… and both enjoy the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Phillies
baseball, where they have enjoyed season tickets for 30 years. The couple spend
two weeks in Maine in the summer.
Asked what he has learned in
some 8 decades on this planet, he says that the most important thing is
successful interpersonal relationships. “I work at making friends,” he says.
You can reach David Woods at HMI 3000@Comcast.net or
on his website at www.Davidwoods.info
