VOL. 79, NO. 2
333
EDITORIAL
ments of Derrick Vail fresh in the minds and hearts of those who knew and loved him but also to indicate to ophthalmologists yet unborn that he was a dedicated, respected teacher whose energy, pen, and foresight advanced the science and the art of oph thalmology. FRANK W.
NEWELL
OBITUARY HERMANN MARTIN BURIAN
1906-1974
Bookplate for Derrick Vail Memorial Collection.
discussion concluded that a Derrick Vail Memorial Collection at the Northwestern University Medical School would be par ticularly appropriate and would commemo rate his memory in a way he would have enjoyed. Mr. William Beatty, Professor of Medical Bibliography at the Medical School, will use the funds contributed by the Oph thalmic Publishing Company, friends, and admirers of Derrick Vail to purchase rare medical books. These will be maintained in a special collection of historic books at the Northwestern Medical School Library. In addition to money the Vail collection will accept books, both old and new, medical and nonmedical. Duplicates will be traded or sold to provide additional books for the collection. A special bookplate to designate books in the collection was designed by Mr. Moody of the Northwestern University Li brary staff (Figure). The Directors hope by this means not only to keep the memory and accomplish
Hermann Martin Burian died Nov. 25, 1974, while on a lecture trip to Italy. He was born to Austrian parents in Naples, Italy, where his father, a distinguished phys iologist, headed a division at the famous Stazione Zoologica. The family moved later to Leipzig and Belgrade where his father held professorships. Dr. Burian received his elementary and secondary education in Naples and Leipzig and obtained his medi cal degree from the University of Belgrade in 1930. Between 1931 and 1936 he worked in the laboratories of such illustrious teach ers as Weigert (Leipzig), Siegriest and Goldmann (Berne), and Tschermak and Schubert (Prague). He studied photochem istry, visual physiology, and visual optics; it was during these years that his lifelong interest in visual research was kindled. In 1936 he accepted an invitation to join Alfred Bielschowsky at the Dartmouth Eye Insti tute. It was the influence of this great master, who soon became Burian's mentor, and the daily contact with such outstanding coworkers as Ames, Lancaster, Linksz, Boeder, Ogle, and Herzau that influenced Dr. Burian's entire scientific career. Upon Bielschowsky's death, Dr. Burian became his scientific heir, continued and greatly ex panded his work, and became head of the Dartmouth Eye Institute. He left Dartmouth in 1945 and was in private practice in Boston until 1951 when he joined the faculty of the
334
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
Hermann M. Burian, M.D. Department of Ophthalmology at the State University of Iowa as an associate professor. In 1956 he became professor and remained in this position until his retirement. It was at Iowa that Dr. Burian spent the most pro ductive period of his life, published more than 150 papers, attracted patients and stu dents from all over the world, and made lasting contributions to the field of strabis mus, electrophysiology, developmental anat omy, and congenital glaucoma. Together with Lee Allen, he pioneered the trabeculotomy ab externo, an operation now widely per formed for congenital glaucoma. In 1971 he left Iowa as professor emeritus and found a new home in North Carolina where he was appointed professor at the University of North Carolina and clinical professor at Duke University. The last years of his life were devoted almost exclusively to co-authorship with me of a textbook on binocular vision, ocular motility, and theory and management of strabismus. How tragic that he should not live to see it published ! Numerous well deserved honors came to
FEBRUARY, 1975
such an extraordinary man. He presented many named lectures, among these the Proctor, Cavara, Gifford, Weeks, and Scobee Memorial Lectures. He received an honor able Doctor of Science degree from Colby College, was co-recipient of the Hectoen Gold Medal, and was on the editorial board of six scientific journals. He served for 22 years on the American Orthoptic Council where he did much to further the cause of Ameri can orthoptics. He was president of the In ternational Strabismological Association and secretary and, later, vice-president of the International Society of Clinical Electroretinography. He held many other important positions in American and international oph thalmology. Upon his retirement from Iowa, Documenta Ophthalmologica published a Festschrift in his honor containing contribu tions from friends and former disciples from all over the world. Of the numerous national and interna tional scientific organizations to which Dr. Burian belonged, the two I know he loved most were the American Ophthalmological Society and that small, intimate circle of devotees known as the "Squint Club." Burian's lifelong goal as a scientist, clini cian, and teacher was to continue the tradi tion of the great masters of the past, Johannes von Müller, Hering, Tschermak, and Bielschowsky: to instill their sound and scientific thinking into modern day ophthal mology, especially in the field of strabismus, and to amplify their rich scientific heritage. He completed this goal and has left his mark as one of the most outstanding strabismologists of our century. His friends will re member him also as a warm, charming, immensely cultured and civilized man whose interests reflected his traditional humanistic European education and were deeply rooted in philosophy, the classics, music, and the arts. G U N T E R K.
VON NOORDEN
333
EDITORIAL
ments of Derrick Vail fresh in the minds and hearts of those who knew and loved him but also to indicate to ophthalmologists yet unborn that he was a dedicated, respected teacher whose energy, pen, and foresight advanced the science and the art of oph thalmology. FRANK W.
NEWELL
OBITUARY HERMANN MARTIN BURIAN
1906-1974
Bookplate for Derrick Vail Memorial Collection.
discussion concluded that a Derrick Vail Memorial Collection at the Northwestern University Medical School would be par ticularly appropriate and would commemo rate his memory in a way he would have enjoyed. Mr. William Beatty, Professor of Medical Bibliography at the Medical School, will use the funds contributed by the Oph thalmic Publishing Company, friends, and admirers of Derrick Vail to purchase rare medical books. These will be maintained in a special collection of historic books at the Northwestern Medical School Library. In addition to money the Vail collection will accept books, both old and new, medical and nonmedical. Duplicates will be traded or sold to provide additional books for the collection. A special bookplate to designate books in the collection was designed by Mr. Moody of the Northwestern University Li brary staff (Figure). The Directors hope by this means not only to keep the memory and accomplish
Hermann Martin Burian died Nov. 25, 1974, while on a lecture trip to Italy. He was born to Austrian parents in Naples, Italy, where his father, a distinguished phys iologist, headed a division at the famous Stazione Zoologica. The family moved later to Leipzig and Belgrade where his father held professorships. Dr. Burian received his elementary and secondary education in Naples and Leipzig and obtained his medi cal degree from the University of Belgrade in 1930. Between 1931 and 1936 he worked in the laboratories of such illustrious teach ers as Weigert (Leipzig), Siegriest and Goldmann (Berne), and Tschermak and Schubert (Prague). He studied photochem istry, visual physiology, and visual optics; it was during these years that his lifelong interest in visual research was kindled. In 1936 he accepted an invitation to join Alfred Bielschowsky at the Dartmouth Eye Insti tute. It was the influence of this great master, who soon became Burian's mentor, and the daily contact with such outstanding coworkers as Ames, Lancaster, Linksz, Boeder, Ogle, and Herzau that influenced Dr. Burian's entire scientific career. Upon Bielschowsky's death, Dr. Burian became his scientific heir, continued and greatly ex panded his work, and became head of the Dartmouth Eye Institute. He left Dartmouth in 1945 and was in private practice in Boston until 1951 when he joined the faculty of the
334
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
Hermann M. Burian, M.D. Department of Ophthalmology at the State University of Iowa as an associate professor. In 1956 he became professor and remained in this position until his retirement. It was at Iowa that Dr. Burian spent the most pro ductive period of his life, published more than 150 papers, attracted patients and stu dents from all over the world, and made lasting contributions to the field of strabis mus, electrophysiology, developmental anat omy, and congenital glaucoma. Together with Lee Allen, he pioneered the trabeculotomy ab externo, an operation now widely per formed for congenital glaucoma. In 1971 he left Iowa as professor emeritus and found a new home in North Carolina where he was appointed professor at the University of North Carolina and clinical professor at Duke University. The last years of his life were devoted almost exclusively to co-authorship with me of a textbook on binocular vision, ocular motility, and theory and management of strabismus. How tragic that he should not live to see it published ! Numerous well deserved honors came to
FEBRUARY, 1975
such an extraordinary man. He presented many named lectures, among these the Proctor, Cavara, Gifford, Weeks, and Scobee Memorial Lectures. He received an honor able Doctor of Science degree from Colby College, was co-recipient of the Hectoen Gold Medal, and was on the editorial board of six scientific journals. He served for 22 years on the American Orthoptic Council where he did much to further the cause of Ameri can orthoptics. He was president of the In ternational Strabismological Association and secretary and, later, vice-president of the International Society of Clinical Electroretinography. He held many other important positions in American and international oph thalmology. Upon his retirement from Iowa, Documenta Ophthalmologica published a Festschrift in his honor containing contribu tions from friends and former disciples from all over the world. Of the numerous national and interna tional scientific organizations to which Dr. Burian belonged, the two I know he loved most were the American Ophthalmological Society and that small, intimate circle of devotees known as the "Squint Club." Burian's lifelong goal as a scientist, clini cian, and teacher was to continue the tradi tion of the great masters of the past, Johannes von Müller, Hering, Tschermak, and Bielschowsky: to instill their sound and scientific thinking into modern day ophthal mology, especially in the field of strabismus, and to amplify their rich scientific heritage. He completed this goal and has left his mark as one of the most outstanding strabismologists of our century. His friends will re member him also as a warm, charming, immensely cultured and civilized man whose interests reflected his traditional humanistic European education and were deeply rooted in philosophy, the classics, music, and the arts. G U N T E R K.
VON NOORDEN
