Murray M. Copeland, MD, FACS

Chair, Committee on Cancer, 1964–1965

Murray M. Copeland, MD, FACS, chaired the Committee on Cancer from 1964-65. He was a graduate of Oglethorpe University in his native Georgia. He earned his medical doctorate at Johns Hopkins University, received surgical training at the Mayo Clinic, and was a clinical fellow in cancer research at the Memorial Hospital in New York City. Dr. Copeland served with the Army Medical Corps in the Pacific and China-Burma-India theaters during World War II. He attained the rank of colonel and was awarded the Legion of Merit.

During Dr. Copeland’s chairmanship, the official name of the Committee on Cancer was changed to the Commission on Cancer. During this transition, a formal Committee on Accreditation was established within the Cancer Commission. The concept was to welcome liaison members from other organizations dealing with cancer care into the Commission on Cancer and to help with formulating accreditation standards.

Under Dr. Copeland’s direction, the First Annual Conference for Liaison Fellows under the sponsorship of the Committee on Cancer was held at the MD Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute in November 1964 in Houston, TX. At that meeting, every state in the United States was represented along with representatives from the leading cancer organizations. Many significant concepts were discussed including the multidisciplinary care of the cancer patient and the importance of having state plans that give local direction for cancer prevention and screening. Also, the importance of maintaining tumor registries was highlighted.

Importantly, Dr. Copeland was national president of the American Cancer Society during his tenure as Cancer Committee chair. This proved to be an important factor in strengthening the collaboration between the COC and the American Cancer Society. Dr. Copeland was a professor of surgery at the University of Texas MD Anderson Hospital from 1960 until his death in 1982 at the age of 79.

Murray M. Copeland

Murray M. Copeland

Written by Frederick L. Greene, MD FACS

Benjamin Franklin Byrd, Jr., MD, FACS

Benjamin Franklin Byrd, Jr., MD, FACS, served as Chair of the Commission on Cancer from 1969 to 1975 and as a member of the Board of Governors of the American College of Surgeons from 1973 to 1976.

Burton J. Lee, MD, FACS

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.

Charles Alfred Dukes, MD, FACS

Charles Alfred Dukes, MD, FACS, was born in Numa, IA, on April 23, 1872, and graduated from the Cooper Medical College (which would later become the Stanford University School of Medicine) in 1895

Danely P. Slaughter, MD, FACS

In defining the components of any new cancer program, Danely P. Slaughter, MD, FACS, emphasized that any program wishing to be a true cancer program needed more than a cancer registry alone to qualify.

Edwin P. Lehman, MD, FACS

Edwin P. Lehman, MD, FACS, served as the Chair of the Committee on Cancer from 1951 to 1954.