Lectureships

WALTER JOEL LECTURESHIP
Established 1982

This lectureship was established as a tribute to a beloved teacher, Dr. Walter Joel, who gave of himself willingly and unselfishly to any student at any level simply because of his sincere love and devotion to medicine.  He had a profound influence on the lives and professional careers of many who partook of his one-on-one teaching.  He was a veritable living textbook of medicine and he imparted information freely to all who asked. 

Dr. Joel was a musician as much as he was a physician.  He was a proficient pianist and held music in the same high esteem as medicine.  In fact, early in his education he had to make a choice of which career to pursue - music or medicine.  Throughout his life he continued to play the piano until physical infirmities prevented it. 

Dr. Joel was born in Bunde Westfalia, Germany on April 28, 1898.  He received his medical education and pathology training at the University of Cologne.  He was subsequently Assistant in Pathology at the University of Geneva, Switzerland; First Assistant to the Chief of Pathology and then Chief of Pathology at the Virchow Hospital; and Director of the Pathological Institute at Cecilien Hospital, Berlin.  Dr. Joel foresaw the political ramification of the regime of Adolf Hitler and fled to Egypt in 1932 where he became Chief Pathologist at the Jewish and Italian Hospitals and then the Al-Moassat Hospital in Alexandria in the employ of the Egyptian government under Abdul Nasser. 

After 15 years in Egypt, he again could see that the political climate was becoming unfavorable for personal freedom and he immigrated to the United States in 1948.  He joined the faculty of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Pathology in 1949, remaining for the next 20 years until his retirement as a Professor of Pathology in 1969.  

JESS HENSLEY LECTURESHIP
Established 1992

This lectureship was established as a tribute to a beloved pathologist, Dr. Jess Hensley, who was born in Carthage, Missouri in 1925, and took his undergraduate education at the University of Tulsa and the University of Arkansas before before entering the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.  He obtained his MD degree in 1959 and was a pathology resident at the University Hospital until 1963.  In January 1963, he was appointed Assistant Professor in the University of Oklahoma Department of Pathology and Director of the Necropsy Service.  In July 1963, he began his career-long association with the Baptist Hospital, serving first as pathologist and then from 1974 to 1983 as Chairman of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.  He also was a founding member of the Oklahoma Blood Institute.  Throughout this time, he continued to serve on the volunteer faculty of the University of Oklahoma, teaching residents and medical students.  Following his retirement from Baptist Hospital in 1983, he was pressed into service on January 1, 1984 as Professor and Chairman of the University of Oklahoma Department of Pathology, a position he held until August 1985.  During this period, he was instrumental in recruiting new leadership talent for the Department through his unique ability to assess a situation and match an individual to that situation.  He also laid the foundations for financial independence for the Department, with his no-nonsense, common sense approach to laboratory medicine that was admired by everyone.  Dr. Hensley was a consummate teacher, always delighting in sharing his medical knowledge with clinical colleagues, medical students, and fellow pathologists.  From 1985 to 1995, he continued on the volunteer faculty as Vice-Chair of Pathology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine-Tulsa.  Dr. Hensley died on March 23, 1997.

TOMMY HEWETT LECTURESHIP
Established 2000

This lectureship was established to honor an outstanding Oklahoma pathologist, Dr. Tommy Hewett, who was born in Long Beach, California but soon found his way to the heartland of America, graduating from Elmore City High School in Oklahoma before entering East Central State College (Ada, Oklahoma) where he received his BA degree with honors in 1966. He then attended the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, receiving his MD degree in 1971 and graduating in the upper third of his medical school class. Following an internship in Wichita, Kansas, he completed a pathology residency at the Baptist Medical Center in 1975 and became Board certified not only in Anatomic Pathology and Clinical Pathology, but also in Hematology. He then joined the staff of the Baptist Medical Center. In addition to his many activities in the private practice of pathology, he has worked closely with the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Department of Pathology as an integral member of the Pathology Residency Training Program, providing each resident who rotates through the service at Integris- Baptist Medical Center with the experience of the day-to-day operation and problem-solving in a large medical laboratory. Dr. Hewett is a fine teacher, an ideal role model for pathologists in training, and a strong advocate for continuing medical education.

Recipient of the 
Tommy Hewett Lectureship

Richard B. Passey Lectureship on
Clinical Laboratory Quality, Standardization, and Compliance
Established 2002

A conference dedicated to the career efforts of Dr. Richard B. Passey, a scientist who devoted his career to the continuous improvement of quality and clinical laboratory testing through: (1) his many contributions to the development of laboratory standards through work with NCCLS and American Association for Clinical Chemistry;   (2) his efforts to develop criteria to insure that laboratories are appropriately staffed through his work with the College of American Pathologists Workload Recording Program; (3) his efforts to insure laboratory compliance with regulatory quality control requirements (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act, 1988, CLIA 88); and (4) his roles as teacher, mentor, and colleague to all of us who were fortunate enough to know and work with Dr. Passey.  More on Dr. Passey.

Recipient of the Ricard B. Passey Lectureship