Robert Goldwyn

{{short description|American surgeon, author and activist}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Robert Malcolm Goldwyn

| image =

| caption = Robert Malcolm Goldwyn

| birth_date = {{Birth-date|1930|1930}}

| birth_place = Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

| death_date = {{Death-date|March 23, 2010|March 23, 2010}}
(aged 79)

| death_place = Brookline, Massachusetts, United States

| alma_mater = Harvard Medical School (MD)

| occupation = Academic, editor-in-chief and plastic surgeon

| spouse = {{plainlist|

  • Tatyana Robson Goldwyn,
  • Roberta Goldwyn (deceased)

}}

}}

Robert Malcolm Goldwyn (Worcester, Massachusetts, 1930–2010){{cite journal| title=Robert M. Goldwyn, M.D. | journal=Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery | volume=114 Suppl | year=2004 | issn=0032-1052 | pmid=15389114 | page=v| doi=10.1097/00006534-200410001-00003}} was an American surgeon; an author, activist, Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, and Chief of Plastic Surgery at the Beth Israel Hospital from 1972 to 1996.{{Cite journal |last=Slavin |first=Sumner A. |date=August 2010 |title=Robert M. Goldwyn, M.D. |journal=Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery |language=en-US |volume=126 |issue=2 |pages=698–699 |doi=10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181e504c1 |issn=0032-1052|doi-access=free }} He was the editor-in-chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery for 25 years.{{cite journal|last=Murray|first= Joseph E. M.D.|title=Bob Goldwyn|journal= Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery|date= October 2004|volume= 114|pages= vi–vii|doi=10.1097/00006534-200410001-00004}}

Education

Goldwyn was senior class president and graduated from Worcester Academy in 1948 with second honors. He matriculated to Harvard College, then graduated as an MD from Harvard Medical School. During his internship and residency (1956–1961) at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, he was also the Harvey Cushing Fellow in Surgery.{{cite web|url=http://www.aaps1921.org/files/newsletter/AAPS_Newsletter_September2004.pdf|title=AAPS Newsletter, AAPS News From the 2004 Annual Meeting|date= October 2004|accessdate= March 20, 2011}} His training in plastic surgery was at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center from 1961 to 1963.{{cite web|last=Bhattacharya|first=Surajit|url=http://www.isaps.org/uploads/news_pdf/ISAPS_NL_Interactivefred_Vol4_Num2.pdf|title=ISAPS News - Official Newsletter of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery|volume=4|issue=2|accessdate=March 20, 2011|archive-date=July 26, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726190402/http://www.isaps.org/uploads/news_pdf/ISAPS_NL_Interactivefred_Vol4_Num2.pdf|url-status=dead}}

Activism and Preservation

In 1960, he worked with Dr. Albert Schweitzer in Lambaréné, Gabon for two months. In 1972, he established The National Archives of Plastic Surgery in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine.{{cite web|url=https://www.countway.harvard.edu/chm/rarebooks/exhibits/plastic_surgery/index.html|title=Countway Library of Medicine|website=www.countway.harvard.edu|access-date=2011-03-13|archive-date=2011-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522070649/https://www.countway.harvard.edu/chm/rarebooks/exhibits/plastic_surgery/index.html|url-status=dead}}

He was a founding member of Physicians for Social Responsibility and wrote articles on world peace, opposition to chemical and biological warfare, and medical ethics.{{cite journal | last1=Sidel | first1=Victor W. |authorlink1=Victor W. Sidel| last2=Goldwyn | first2=Robert M. | title=Chemical and Biologic Weapons — A Primer | journal=New England Journal of Medicine | volume=274 | issue=1 | date=1966-01-06 | issn=0028-4793 | doi=10.1056/nejm196601062740105 | pmid=5901868 | pages=21–27}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1966/4/20/two-med-school-doctors-criticize-use/ |title=Two Med School Doctors Criticize Use of Chemical, Germ Weapons|work=The Harvard Crimson|date= April 20, 1966| accessdate= March 16, 2011}}

Awards and honors

When the New England Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons established the Robert M. Goldwyn Lifetime Achievement Award and made Goldwyn its first recipient, he stated, "I do not really deserve this. But as Jack Benny said, ‘I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either.’{{cite journal | last=Constantian | first=Mark B. | title=Robert M. Goldwyn, M.D., Tribute | journal=Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery | volume=126 | issue=2 | year=2010 | issn=0032-1052 | doi=10.1097/prs.0b013e3181e50482 | page=697| doi-access=free }}

Goldwyn was a Visiting Professor to more than 70 institutions, universities, and hospitals in the United States and abroad and was an honorary member of more than a dozen national and international societies of plastic surgery.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}} He was President of the 1994 Meeting of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons in St. Louis, Missouri.{{cite web|url=http://www.aaps1921.org/about_PastPresidents.cgi|title=Past Presidents and Meetings|website=American Association of Plastic Surgeons}} He was honored by France, Germany, and Italy with their highest medals for his work in plastic and reconstructive surgery.{{cite news|last=Negri|first= Gloria|url= http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2010/04/06/robert_goldwyn_79_author_renowned_plastic_surgeon/ |title=Robert Goldwyn, 79, author, renowned plastic surgeon|work=The Boston Globe|date=April 6, 2010| accessdate= March 13, 2011}} In Berlin, at the 2007 International Confederation for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, he presented the inaugural "Ulrich Hinderer Memorial Lecture".{{cite web|last=Olbrisch|first=Rolf R.|url=http://www.dgpraec.de/uploads/tx_abdownloads/files/PlastChir_2008_Festschrift.pdf?uid=112&downl=1|title=Plastische Chirurgie|volume=8: Supplement 2 (2008)|accessdate=May 20, 2011|archive-date=April 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406111211/http://www.dgpraec.de/uploads/tx_abdownloads/files/PlastChir_2008_Festschrift.pdf?uid=112&downl=1|url-status=dead}}{{Non-primary source needed|date=June 2025}} His other awards include the 2005 Honorary Kazanjian Lectureship,{{cite web|url=http://www.brighamandwomens.org/Departments_and_Services/surgery/medical_professionals/surged/PlasticSurgery/PreviousKazanjianLecturers.aspx|title=Varaztad H. Kazanjian Lectureship Previous Lecturers|publisher=Brigham and Women's Hospital|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120804083431/http://www.brighamandwomens.org/Departments_and_Services/surgery/medical_professionals/surged/PlasticSurgery/PreviousKazanjianLecturers.aspx |archive-date=August 4, 2012}} 1991 Clinician of the Year of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons,{{cite web|url=http://www.aaps1921.org/awards_recipients_Clinician.cgi|title={{sic|nolink=y|Clinican}} Of The Year Award Recipients|website=American Association of Plastic Surgeons}}{{Non-primary source needed|date=June 2025}} the 2004 American Association of Plastic Surgeons Honorary Award, and the Presidential Citation of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.

Bibliography

As a writer, he authored or co-authored more than 350 articles, more than 10 books, more than 50 chapters,{{cite web |last=Sweeney |first=Benedict J. |year=2007 |title=Leonardo's Hands: More about Dr. Robert Goldwyn |url=http://www.leonardoshands.com/leonardos-hands-about-us-goldwyn-more.html |accessdate=March 13, 2011}} and edited books including:

  • The Unfavorable Result in Plastic Surgery: Avoidance and Treatment {{ISBN|0316319708|9780316319706}}
  • Reconstructive Surgery of the Breast {{ISBN|0316319716|9780316319713}}
  • Long-Term Results in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery {{ISSN|0098-7484}} {{Cite journal |date=1981-09-25 |title=Long-term Results in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery |url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/362382 |journal=JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association |language=en |volume=246 |issue=13 |pages=1467 |doi=10.1001/jama.1981.03320130065032 |issn=0098-7484|url-access=subscription }}
  • Reduction Mammaplasty {{ISBN|0316319775|9780316319775}} {{Cite journal |last=Woods |first=John E. |date=1990-03-01 |title=Reduction Mammaplasty |url=https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(12)62549-X/abstract |journal=Mayo Clinic Proceedings |language=English |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=443–444 |doi=10.1016/S0025-6196(12)62549-X |issn=0025-6196|url-access=subscription }}
  • The Patient and the Plastic Surgeon {{ISBN|0316319783|9780316319782}}
  • The Operative Note : Collected Editorials {{ISBN|0865774315|9780865774315}}
  • The Physician Traveler (18 volumes){{Cite journal |last=Goldwyn |first=Robert M. |date=1969 |title=The physician-traveler |url=https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/37363773 |language=en-US |issn=0017-8136}}
  • Beyond Appearance: Reflections of a Plastic Surgeon - an autobiography {{ISBN|0396086691|9780396086697}}
  • Retired not dead: thoughts plastic surgical and otherwise {{ISBN|1905904428|9781905904426}}

Retirement

Marking his retirement in 2004 as editor-in-chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Goldwyn was presented the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Special Recognition Award during the Plastic Surgery 2004 opening ceremonies in Philadelphia. The Journal's circulation, which was 5,100 when Goldwyn took over in 1980, by 2004 had achieved the number one peer-reviewed impact factor among all plastic surgery journals worldwide.{{cite journal | last1=Rohrich | first1=Rod J. | last2=Wills | first2=Alma | last3=Mulligan | first3=James R. | last4=Clark | first4=Virginia | last5=Sullivan | first5=Daniel | last6=Tynan | first6=Edward | last7=Stuzin | first7=James M. | title=To Have Some Friends: A Tribute to Robert Goldwyn, M.D., 1930 to 2010—Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Editor Emeritus Dies at Age 79 | journal=Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery | volume=126 | issue=2 | year=2010 | issn=0032-1052 | doi=10.1097/prs.0b013e3181e5049c | pmid=20712077 | pages=691–695|display-authors=1| doi-access=free }}

His final book, Retired not dead: thoughts plastic surgical and otherwise, was published in 2008.{{cite book | last=Goldwyn | first=Robert | title=Retired, Not Dead : thoughts plastic surgical and otherwise | publisher=Artnik Books | location=London | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-905904-42-6 | oclc=922979276 }}

Death

At the age of 79, he died in his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, on March 23, 2010, after a 16-year battle with prostate cancer.{{cite news | archive-date=June 29, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629023031/http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2010/04/todays_globe_100.html | department=White Coat Notes | url=http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2010/04/todays_globe_100.html | title=Today's Globe | work=The Boston Globe | date=April 6, 2010 | last=Cooney | first=Elizabeth}}

References

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