William E. Matory Sr., Surgeon Who Helped Howard University Grow, 80, Washington Post
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/14/AR2009021401567.html
Surgeon Helped Howard University Grow
By Matt Schudel, Washington Post Staff Writer
William E. Matory Sr., 80, a surgeon and professor who made many
contributions to Howard University's medical school and who was a national
leader in continuing medical education, died January 26, 2009, of heart
disease at Howard University Hospital. He lived in Washington DC.
Dr. Matory had a general surgery practice for almost 40 years, trained more
than 4,000 future doctors at Howard's College of Medicine, launched an
innovative series of instructional films for surgeons and introduced
programs in disciplines as diverse as emergency care, kidney disease and
family medicine.
As a surgeon, Dr. Matory specialized in trauma care, the treatment of
colorectal cancer and caring for burn victims with plastic surgery. He was
director of emergency care at Howard University Hospital from 1960 to 1982
and led efforts to reorganize emergency room procedures throughout the
Washington DC area.
In 1966, after undergoing special training in renal medicine, Dr. Matory
established Howard's dialysis program. Four years later, even as he worked
as a full-time surgeon and professor, he founded Howard's program in family
medicine. He became a board-certified family practice specialist and chaired
the program for nine years.
Dr. Matory also co-founded the university's physician assistant training
program in 1972 and developed a basic surgery course, surgical
pathophysiology, which he taught for more than 30 years.
"I believe he made a broader array of contributions to the College of
Medicine than any other person in the modern era," said LaSalle D. Leffall
Jr., who was chairman of Howard's department of surgery from 1970 to 1995
and knew Dr. Matory for 60 years. "He would see something that needed to be
done, and he would do it."
In 1965, Dr. Matory established Howard's program of continuing medical
education, or CME, which provides training for mid-career medical
professionals. It was among the first programs of its kind in the region,
and Dr. Matory remained its director until 2003.
From 1977 until his death, he was the head of continuing medical education
for the National Medical Association, the country's largest organization of
African American physicians. He led efforts to expand the association's
outreach throughout the Caribbean and to emphasize the treatment of malaria
and other tropical diseases.
In the 1960s, Dr. Matory began making a series of instructional films of
advanced surgical techniques that showcased his skills and those of other
black surgeons. He presented the films, which eventually numbered more than
130, at meetings of the American College of Surgeons. Thirty years later, he
was at the forefront of efforts to provide accredited medical education on
television.
Edward E. Cornwell III, chairman of surgery at Howard, said in a statement
that Dr. Matory was "an icon in American surgery that transcends all
barriers of race, gender and ethnicity."
William Earle Matory was born October 1, 1928, in East St. Louis, Illinois.
His father ran a shoe repair shop. Dr. Matory was 3 when his mother died,
and he went to live with an aunt in Mississippi.
While carrying an ax in a field one day, he later recalled, he was
frightened by a snake and dropped the ax. He ran home and confessed to his
aunt that he had lost the ax.
"Dry your eyes, William, and go get that ax," she told him, in a lesson he
never forgot. "You can't see with tears in your eyes."
At Howard, Dr. Matory was a member of the track team and was elected
president of the class of 1949. He graduated from Howard's medical school in
1953 and served two years as an Air Force surgeon.
In addition to his surgical practice and teaching, Dr. Matory published
scholarly papers and served on many medical boards. He was on the executive
committee of the American College of Surgeons and was chairman of the D.C.
Board of Medicine, which licenses doctors in the city. He was a member of
the Cosmos Club, Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and the Sigma Pi Phi honorary
society.
In recent years, Dr. Matory was active in efforts to provide medical care in
southern Africa and sat on a charitable foundation board with L. Douglas
Wilder, the mayor of Richmond and a former Virginia governor.
"He was tireless," Wilder said yesterday. "He never stopped trying to help
people."
Dr. Matory's marriage to Deborah Love Matory ended in divorce.
Two children from that marriage, Dr. William E. Matory Jr. and Dr. Yvedt L.
Matory, died in 2005.
Survivors include his wife of 33 years, Dr. Rita Rigor-Matory of Washington
DC; a son from his first marriage, J. Lorand Matory of Cambridge,
Massachusetts; two children from his second marriage, Marine Capt. William
J. Matory, who is serving in Afghanistan, and Elizabeth Matory of Washington
DC; and nine grandchildren.