Robert A.
Colby
President, 1960-1961
©American
Academy of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology. Used with permission.
Photo: circa 1962
Born in Buffalo, New York, on November 8, 1909, Robert Colby received his D.D.S. in 1932 and his M.S. in 1948 from the University of Michigan. From 1932 until 1940 he was in general practice in Royal Oak, Michigan. He was commissioned in the U.S. Navy in 1940, with various duty stations including the Naval Dental School in Bethesda and the AFIP. He retired from the Navy in 1960 with the rank of Captain, continuing as a consultant until 1986. He was awarded the U.S. Navy Legion of Merit.
Colby was President of the American Board of Oral Pathology in 1962 when the Board assumed more direct responsibility for certification and a minimum score of 75% on microscopic diagnosis was adopted as a requirement. Bob was assigned the task of preparing an atlas for the Navy. He invited Donald Kerr and Hamilton Robinson to join him as co-authors. They produced the Color Atlas of Oral Pathology which has gone through four editions since 1961. His other publications include Radiation effects on structures of the oral cavity, J Am Dent Assoc, 1942; Odontogenic tumors in Dent Clin N Am, 1957; Effects of CO2 toxicity on the formation of dentin, J Dent Res, 1958; and Mixed tumors of the floor of the mouth in a 7-year-old child, J Oral Surg, 1959.
These notes and photos are from: Robinson HBG. History of the American Academy of Oral Pathology 1946-1987. The American Academy of Oral Pathology, Chicago, 1988, pp. 1-100. Used with permission.