Spotlight on the late Frederic Pratt Herter, MD, Auchincloss Professor Emeritus of Surgery and Acting Chairman (1969-1971) of the Department of Surgery

Dr. Craig R. Smith and the Department of Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons mourn the passing of Dr. Frederic P. Herter, our esteemed colleague and mentor.  

Auchincloss Professor Emeritus of Surgery and Acting Chairman of the Department of Surgery from 1969-1971, Dr. Herter completed his surgical residency training at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in 1953 and served on the faculty until his retirement in 1989. During his tenure he was an Attending Staff at Presbyterian Hospital, and Francis Delafield Hospital in New York. He became Director of the Surgical Service at Delafield in 1966. He was a leading figure in the area of research in cancer therapy.  Dr. Herter received the P&S Distinguished Service Award in 1992. He was a member of the JJSS Steering Committee from its inception in 1997 until 2006 and co-edited, with Alfred Jaretzki III and Kenneth A. Forde: A Proud Heritage: An Informal History of Surgery at Columbia, which was published in 2003. 

Dr. Herter was a tall, soft-spoken and approachable man who befriended others with ease and sincerity. He was highly respected as a teacher at the bedside and in the operating room, and his patients found him to be a good listener and a caring person.

A celebration of Dr. Herter’s life and work will be held on January 28, 2016 at 10:45am in:

The Pauline A. Hartford Memorial Chapel
622 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032 (Main Floor)
Lunch will follow in the Faculty Club on the 4th Floor

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