IN REMEMBRANCE
RALPH MASON SCOTT, MD
November 23, 1921 - August 15, 2019
O
n August 15th of this year, the medical community lost
one of its most highly respected and beloved members
- Ralph Mason Scott.
I had the joy of being married to him for the last four
and a half years of his life; wish it would that it had been
many more. Born on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, son of
a sharecropper, Ralph Scott rose to perform near miracles
as a physician and educator in the field of radiation oncology - a
career that spanned more than 40 years.
According to Ralph himself, he wandered into the field of
medicine when he was 19 years old. After a college dance, he was
wandering aimlessly about Charlottesville, Va., with his best friend
“Pete” (John A.) Byrd. Pete urged him to enroll at the Medical College
of Virginia. “With nothing better to do” and 39 cents in his pocket,
Ralph decided that was a good idea. He registered the next morning
and graduated four years later with a Doctor of Medicine degree.
Thus began a remarkable career.
He began his work in radiology as radiotherapist at the Robert
Packer Hospital and Guthrie Clinic, Sayre, Penn., in 1957-59 as
Director of Radiation Therapy and Nuclear Medicine. Before arriving
in Louisville in 1960, he held the position of Assistant Professor of
Radiology at the University of Chicago in 1959-60.
Professional service memberships and publications too numerous
to mention followed from Chicago, to Bethesda and Baltimore, Md.
on to Cincinnati, Ohio; lectureships in research continued at the
Medical College of Virginia, Ohio State University, the University
of California, Pittsburgh, Duke University, and the University of
Kentucky.
Dr. Scott’s service in Louisville began as Professor and Director of
Radiation Therapy and Radioisotopes at the University of Louisville
School of Medicine in 1960, and continued over the next 20 years
diagnosing, treating and teaching all aspects of radiation therapy.
He became the first Director of the James Graham Brown Cancer
Center in 1980.
The scope of Dr. Scott’s influence as therapist and educator
may be beyond measure, as was evidenced by recent attendance
at his memorial service. Former students and coworkers, now
accomplished professionals themselves, traveled across the country
to remember and thank their revered teacher and friend at his
passing.
Dr. Scott would have, no doubt, shed a few tears, as did we all.
- Betty Long Scott, PhD.
Dr. Scott was a GLMS member for 40 years.
NOVEMBER 2019
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