Robert G.
Gorlin
President, 1966-1967
©American
Academy of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology. Used with permission.
Photo: circa 1970
Born in Hudson, New York, January 11, 1923, Robert Gorlin received his A.B. from Columbia College (1943) and, after two years in the U.S. Army, he entered Washington University (St. Louis) School of Dentistry receiving his D.D.S. in 1943. He was a University Fellow in Pathology and NIDR Fellow at Columbia University (1947-50), and then became Oral Pathologist at Bronx VA Hospital and Instructor in Pathology at Columbia University. He spent one year as Dental Director of Operation Blue Jay in Greenland. He was on active duty at Great Lakes Naval Training Center and a graduate student in chemistry at the State University of Iowa (1953-56), receiving his M.A. In 1956 he joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota, serving as Chairman and Professor of Oral Pathology, Regents Professor and Chairman of the Department of Oral Pathology and Genetics. He also held joint appointments as Professor of Pathology, Dermatology and Pediatrics, and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the medical school. In 1961 he was a Fulbright Exchange Professor and Guggenheim Fellow at the Royal Dental College, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Gorlin served twice as Vice President of the Academy, and served as Secretary-Treasurer (1958-64) during a difficult time when, after ten years, support from the Army Institute of Pathology and AFIP was terminated. He was President of the American Board of Oral Pathology (1976) and a founding member of the American Board of Medical Genetics. Bob received an honorary D. Sc. from the University of Athens and the Fred Birnberg Alumni Award from Columbia University School of Dentistry.
He is co-author of Syndromes of the Head and Neck, 1964 and 1976, and Thoma's Oral Pathology, 6th Edition, 1970. His publications in the periodical literature include Multiple nevoid basal cell epitheliomata, jaw cysts and bifid ribs, a syndrome, N Engl J Med, 1960; Calcifying odontogenic cyst - a new entity, Cancer, 1964; The melanotic neuroectodermal tumor of infancy, Cancer, 1966; Multiple mucosal neuromas, pheochromocytoma and medullary carcinoma of the thyroid, a syndrome, Cancer, 1968; and Odontogenic tumors in mammals and fish, Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol, 1972.
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.