Neurosurgery Lectureships, Department of Neurosurgery - the University of Minnesota

The Titrud Lectureship in Neurosurgery

Leonard A. Titrud, M.D., Ph.D., born January 1, 1911, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was a successful and highly respected neurosurgeon in hospitals in both the community and at the University of Minnesota. He earned his MD degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1935 and pursued internships at the U.S. Marine Hospital in New York City, the United States Public Health Service Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky and the University Hospital in Minneapolis. He held a National Cancer Fellowship and Fellowship in Surgery and Neurological Surgery, at the University Hospital. During World War II, Dr. Titrud was an army surgeon and remained active with the United States Army Reserve, retiring with the rank of Colonel in 1966.

Following World War II, he returned to the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed an M.S. in Surgery followed by a Ph.D. in Neurosurgery. He was the first graduate student in the neurosurgery graduate program and maintained a close kinship with department head and program founder, Dr. William Peyton. He served as a clinical professor of Neurosurgery for more than 23 years. Dr. Titrud's professional legacy includes many publications on surgery and neurological disorders. He was a member of several national, state, and local professional surgery and neurosurgery organizations. He retired from the practice of neurosurgery in 1985, an esteemed member of the Minneapolis medical community.

Dr. Titrud and his wife Geraldine (Jeri) were married for more than 50 years and raised four children at their home on Lake Minnetonka; all of their children graduated from the University of Minnesota which was a source of pride to the Titrud's. They traveled extensively and enjoyed and supported the arts in Minneapolis. Before Jeri died in January of 2003, they were actively preparing their philanthropic legacy to the University and the Neurosurgery program he valued so deeply and proudly. In December of 2003, Dr. Titrud completed his charitable gift plan with a very generous gift establishing the Leonard A. and Geraldine A. Titrud Fund in Neurosurgery. It was his vision that faculty in the Department of Neurosurgery would have needed resources for research projects focused on neurosurgical research and education.

Dr. Titrud passed away on October 18, 2004.

Past Titrud Lecutreships in Neurosurgery

March 8, 2008	Alexa Canady, M.D.	"Where will the Business Model of Medicine Take Us?"
March 23, 2007	Donald Erickson, M.D.	"Town or Gown: Cooperating and Competition"
March 10, 2006	James I. Ausman, M.D., Ph.D.	"What the Future will Look Like and What you can do to be Successful in it" PowerPoint Presentation #1 PowerPoint Presentation #2
January 14, 2005	Edward L. Seljeskog, M.D., Ph.D.	"History of the Minnesota Medical School and the Evolution of Surgery and Neurosurgery"

The Shelley N. Chou Lectureship in Neurosurgery

Shelley Nien-chun Chou was clearly a man of remarkable achievements, all the more awesome to contemplate when one considers his humble beginnings. In 1924, Shelley was born in a small village in China, into a family which placed great emphasis on education. Shelley was one of the fortunate 5% within their locale who were literate! Shelley's father had a great love of poetry and, not surprisingly, his eldest son was given the name of Shelley after Percy Bysshe Shelley.

With his father's premature death, Shelley began his formal education, but unfortunately World War II curtailed its completion. Fortuitously, with his acquired fluency in English, Shelley was befriended by a variety of western contacts, who influenced his decision after the war to emigrate to the U.S. He attended the University of Utah and in 1949 was awarded his M.D. degree. Residency at the University of Minnesota under Bill Peyton followed and then a tour at the N.I.H. working in neurophysiology. In 1960, Shelley returned to the Minnesota faculty and joined Lyle French. Over the following years he moved up the academic ladder to ultimately be selected as Chairman of Neurosurgery in 1974.

Shelley's contributions to Neurosurgery were prolific, including pioneering research in brain scanning, along with major clinical contributions in cerebrovascular and spinal surgery. He was President of numerous neurosurgical organizations. Perhaps Shelley's greatest contribution was his deep interest in graduate neurosurgical education, particularly involving the American Board of Neurological Surgery and Residency Review Committee, where his influence will continue to be felt for many years to come.

The esteem with which he was held by his colleagues at Minnesota and the wide respect for his leadership ability became obvious when, after the resignations of the Dean of the Medical School and of the Vice President for Health Sciences, Dr. Chou became the unanimous choice of the Clinical and Basic Science faculties to become the Interim Dean of the Medical School and Vice President for Medical Affairs. After his retirement from these positions, he found more time to enjoy the desert southwest during the winters.

Dr Chou passed away in July of 2001.

Past Shelley N. Chou Lecutreships in Neurosurgery

June 19, 2008	Alim Louis Benabid, MD, PhD	"How can we intervene in the brain with deep electrical stimulation?"
May 18, 2007	Rudolph Fahlbush, MD	"Intraoperative MRI in Neurosurgery"
May 5, 2006	John VanGilder, M.D., University of Iowa	"Minnesota-Iowa Neurosurgery: A History"
May 6, 2005	Julian T. Hoff, M.D., University of Michigan	"Intracerebral Hemorrhage: Clinical and Experimental Progress"
January 16, 2004	Edward H. Oldfield, M.D., National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD	"Regional Drug Delivery Using Convection: Implications for Pharmacological Delivery"
November 17, 2000	Donlin M. Long, M.D., Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine	"The Philosophy of Neurosurgery: Harvey Cushing, Walter Dandy, Johns Hopkins and the University of Minnesota"
September 24, 1999	Robert F. Spetzler, M.D., Barrow Neurosurgical Associates, Phoenix, AZ	"Spinal Vascular Lesions"
August 1, 1997	Albert L. Rhoton, Jr., M.D., University of Florida	"Anatomy and Syndromes of the Posterior Fossa"
October 25, 1996	Robert G. Grossman, M.D., Baylor College of Medicine	"Pallidotomy for Parkinson's Disease"
October 27, 1995	Lindsay Symon, CBE, TD, FRC, FACS, The National Hospital, Queen Square, London	"Some Physiological Aspects of the Surgery of Giant Aneurysms"
June 11, 1994	C. Miller Fisher, M.D., Harvard Medical School	"Brain Herniation. An Update"
June 4, 1993	Charles G. Drake, M.D., M.Sc., University of Western Ontario
April 10, 1992	Vinko V. Dolenc, M.D., Ph.D., University of Ljubljana, Slovenia	"Twelve Years Experience with Cavernous Sinus Surgery"
April 6, 1991	Charles B. Wilson, M.D., University of California, San Francisco	"Cryptic Vascular Malformations - A Spectrum"

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Last modified on Monday Mar 28, 2005

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