Memorial resolution At J. Garrott Allen 1912-1992 Dr. J. Garrott Allen, an emeritus professor of surgery at the School of Medicine, died at the Stanford University Hospital on January 10, 1992 at the age of 79. His death was due to complications related to pneumonia. Dr. Garrott Allen was born in Elkins, West Virginia in 1912. He at- tended Davis and Elkins College from 1930 to 1932 where his father was president. He received his Bachelor's degree in 1934 from Wash- ington University in St. Louis and graduated AOA from Harvard Med- ical School in 1938. He completed his internship and surgical residency training at the University of Chicago clinics in 1944. Allen was subsequently selected as a staff physician on the super- secret Manhattan Project, the World War Il United States government project to build an atomic bomb. Following the death of physicist Dr. Louis Slotin from acute radiation exposure after a laboratory accident at Los Alamos in May 1946, Allen often wrote op-ed articles for major newspapers telling people what it's like to observe someone slowly and painfully dying from radiation exposure. He concluded in an article published in the Los Angeles Times on November 11, 1981 by noting, “There is no effective medical treatment for serious radiation injury, and these deaths will be almost as agonizing to those looking on as to the victims themselves.” “The production of neutron weapons is probably as immoral a concept as human minds have yet devised,” he stated. Allen returned to the University of Chicago School of Medicine in 1946 as chief resident and instructor of surgery and one year later was appointed an assistant professor. By 1951 he had become a full pro- fessor of surgery. During his tenure at the University of Chicago he conducted research:on radiation injury, hemorrhagic diseases, post- transfusion hepatitis and the nutritional value of intravenous plasma. He was the first to observe that the serum hepatitis virus in plasma could be inactivated by storing the plasma at room temperature for six months. As a result of his interest in blood and blood products, Allen called public attention to the potential risks of infection from commercial blood supplies and stimulated the creation of an all volunteer national blood bank program and legislation requiring the labeling of volunteer and purchased blood. His professional life was dedicated to making 20 CAMPUS REPORT June 17, 1992 ( HL tra. During World War ll, Dr. J. Garrott Allen served as staff physician on the super-secret Manhattan Project. The death of a colleague from radiation exposure led Allen to oppose the use of nuclear weapons; he called the neutron bomb, “probably as immoral a concept as human minds have yet devised.” the administration of blood and plasma safe for patients. Dr. Allen left the University of Chicago to head the Department of Surgery at Stanford University in 1959. He remained professor at Stan- ford until his retirement in 1977. Dr. Allen was a staunch advocate of the full-time system and prior to assuming the duties as chairman of the Department of Surgery at Stanford, raised several hundreds of thousands of dollars to guarantee competitive full-time salaries for those academic surgeons he recruited until they became established. He was responsible for bringing a number of academic faculty mem- bers to Stanford, some of whom remain active today (Dr. Thomas Stamey, chair of Urology, Dr. Norman Shumway, chair of Cardiovas- cular Surgery, Dr. Harry Oberhelman, chief of the Division of General Surgery, Dr. Duncan Govan, associate chief of staff and Dr. Blair Sim- mons of ENT). During his tenure at Stanford, Dr. Allen continued his research in the field of blood and plasma as well as his interest in teaching medical students. Following his retirement he continued to conduct undergraduate student seminars for the University. Allen al- ways demonstrated a keen interest and insight in the seminar courses he taught. He showed genuine concern for his students’ welfare and they considered him as much a friend and an advisor as a teacher. He was a caring man and was liked by all. In 1986 he received a Ford Foundation grant to do research on post-transfusion hepatitis and AIDS. His wife, Kathryn Allen of Stanford, assisted him with many of his projects. Dr. Allen was a prolific writer having published more than 100 sci- entific monographs and articles. He was the senior author of the pop- ular textbook, Surgery: Principals and Practice, first published in 1957. The reason for the writing of this textbook was to emphasize to a greater extent the physiologic, biochemical, pathologic and anatomic bases of surgical practice. He served as the chief editor of the Archives - of Surgery from 1962-70 and was on the editorial boards of the Journal of Surgery, the Journal of Surgical Research and Transfusion. During the earlier years of his career he served as a member of the Surgery Study Section of the U.S. Public Health Service from 1955- 59. He chaired the American Cancer Society Committee on Cancer Therapy and the American Collage of Surgeon's Committee on Blood and Allied Problems. Allen served on the American Board ot Surgery as a director and was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, The Society of Clinical Surgery and the American Researchers for the Advancement of Science. He was a founding member of both the In- ternational Surgical Group (1958) and the Surgical Infection Society (1980). He also held membership in a number of regional and national medical, surgical societies. Dr. Allen received numerous scientific awards that included an American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics award for work on irradiation injury, a Gold Medal award from the American Medical Association's Scientific Division for research on pro- tamine sulfate and awards from the American Association of Blood Banks. Dr. Allen was also awarded the esteemed Samuel D. Gross Quinquennial Surgical Prize by the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery in 1955, Dr. Allen is survived by his wife, Kathryn Allen of Stanford, his four sons, Barry Allen of Durham, North Carolina, Edward Allen of Logan, Utah, Lester Allen of La Grange, Illinois and Joseph Allen of Palo Alto, California; his daughter, Nannette Alarcon of Madrid, Spain, his three step-children, Robert Shipley of Mountain View, Califomia, Grant Ship- ley of Muncie, Indiana, and Susan Shipley of Albuquerque, New Mex- ico; three brothers, Carter Alien of Waynesboro, Virginia, Charles Allen ~Of Trenton, Michigan and Robert Allen of St. Albans, West Virginia and 10 grandchildren. Harry Oberhelman, chair Duncan Govan Norman Shumway Thomas Stamey