Burton J. Lee, MD, FACS

Chair, Committee on the Treatment of Malignant Diseases, 1933

Burton James Lee was born in New Haven, CT, on February 4, 1874. He received a bachelor’s of philosophy from Yale University in 1894 and his medical degree from Columbia University in 1898, and interned at Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Starting in 1903, Dr. Lee was a faculty member at the Cornell University Medical College, becoming clinical professor of surgery in 1918. Among his appointments at Cornell, he served as attending surgeon, clinical director, and medical board member of Memorial Hospital. Other than his military service (commissioned Captain in the Medical Corps June 1, 1917, later promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, discharged January 29, 1919), Dr. Lee spent his career practicing in the New York City area.

Dr. Lee’s interactions with other surgeons during his overseas military service apparently led to the formation of the Eclat Society, an organization for which members were required to have served at the front, “been scared,” and held a rank no higher than captain. Dr. Lee served as secretary and treasurer of the Society. In this role, he may have been involved with some contentious interactions with the American College of Surgeons Board of Regents related to professional standards.

Dr. Lee had numerous journal publications and presentations during his career, including the annual Mary Scott Newbold lecture for the Philadelphia College of Physicians in March 1933. He spoke on “Cancer of the Breast” and “The Role of Surgery and the Role of Irradiation in the Treatment of Cancer” at the Mahoning County (Ohio) Medical Society 6th Annual Post Graduate Day in April 1933, where he commented that the major health challenge facing civilization is the need for more effective control of cancer. He served as the president of the American Radium Society 1932-33; secretary of the American Society for Cancer Control starting in 1930; and chairman of the Committee on Malignancy of the American College of Surgeons beginning in October 1933. He died November 12, 1933.

Sources

Bulletin of Yale University, 15 October 1934. http://mssa.library.yale.edu/obituary_record/1925_1952/1933-34.pdf

Cornell University Official Publication. Announcement of the Medical College for 1933-1934. Vol. XXV No. 3, Ithaca NY, Aug. 1 1933.   https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/42179/opcu_V25_1933_34_03.pdf

Davis L. Fellowship of Surgeons. A History of the American College of Surgeons. American College of Surgeon, 1993. https://www.facs.org/~/media/files/archives/fellowshipsurgeonsdavis.ashx

The Mahoning County Medical Society Bulletin, 3(3), March 1933. https://digital.maag.ysu.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1989/11665/MCMS_V3_1933_03.pdf

Written by Michael T. Halpern, MD, PhD, MPH

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