February, 2004Eugene J. Van Scott, MD: Honored with the Dermatology Foundation's Highest Award-the Distinguished Service Medallion

For only the third time in its almost 40-year history, the Dermatology
Foundation honored one of dermatology's leaders with its prestigious
Distinguished Service Medallion. Eugene J. Van Scott, MD, was honored at the
Foundation's Annual Meeting on February 7, 2004 during the annual convention of
the American Academy of Dermatology in Washington, DC.
The list of prestigious awards accorded him over the years is lengthy. But
his most enduring legacy in a highly memorable career arises from his role as a
founder, and then guiding influence, of the Dermatology Foundation.
Dr. Van Scott has been a member of the specialty for more than a half
century, since his residency at the University of Chicago Clinics. This followed
his BS and then MD at the University of Chicago. He has been a guiding light in
the field, first at the National Cancer Institute, where he headed the
Dermatology Branch for 15 years, then in academic medicine. Dr. Van Scott spent
two decades on the faculty at Temple University, then several years at Hahnemann
University in Philadelphia. He was also an eminent spokesman and man of action
on many fronts, playing formative roles in the National Psoriasis Foundation and
the Society for Investigative Dermatology, holding important committee advisory
positions, and serving twice on the AAD Board of Directors.
In 1964, Dr. Van Scott helped to make history as one of the 10 visionary
founders of the Dermatology Foundation, then served on the Board of Trustees
until 1973. In 1994 he continued his pioneering influence as one of the founders
of the Annenberg Circle, bringing a new level of commitment and financial
support for the Foundation's Research Awards Program. This exceptional $25,000
contribution to furthering the specialty's powerful research base in medical and
surgical dermatology confers lifetime membership at the highest level.
The Dermatology Foundation's growth from a new idea to a membership in the
thousands, a budget in the millions, substantial industry support, and a
research agenda rich in breadth and depth owes this success in no small measure
to Dr. Van Scott.
The three previous recipients of this award were Thomas B. Fitzpatrick, MD,
PhD, jointly with Irvin H. Blank, PhD, in 1989, and then Howard V. Dubin, MD, in
1998.
The Dermatology Foundation is a nonprofit organization created in 1964 by
concerned dermatologists to provide a national organization for advancing
patient care through funded research, and is now second only to the federal
government as a source of funding for investigative dermatology. The Foundation
raises funds from within both the specialty and from the cosmetic,
pharmaceutical and surgical industries to support a research program of the
highest quality that is also exceptional in its breadth and depth.
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