Chair Era Timeline

In 1919, Hugh Cabot, MD, a prominent urologic surgeon and founder of the genitourinary clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital, left Boston to come to U-M where he assumed the role of chair of the Department of Surgery. Cabot, who was educated at Harvard Medical School, had just returned from service in World War I, in France, where he had a distinguished career as an officer. With quick succession, he was appointed dean of the U-M Medical School in 1921. At the time the Department of Surgery was minimally differentiated into the evolving specialties.

Cabot went on to build one of the preeminent surgery departments in the United States. In 1925, he recruited two young men who would become outstanding urologists: Charles Huggins, MD, who went on to win a Nobel Prize for his work with the hormonal manipulation of prostate cancer; and Reed Nesbit, MD, who became the first chief of the Section of Urology in 1930, and remained professor and chair until his retirement in 1968.

In 1925, Cabot oversaw the completion and staffing of the new University Hospital on Ann Street in Ann Arbor, a modern facility designed by renowned architect Albert Kahn to replace the Catherine Street Hospital. During this time, he also took part in campus life. On April 28, 1925, Cabot participated in a student faculty debate on the topic, “Resolved: that intercollegiate athletics in their present form are objectionable and should be materially modified.”

Cabot was a powerful dean. Often viewed as a visionary, he challenged the status quo to bring change and innovation to the U-M Medical School — notably arguing against the common practice at the time to delay catheterization in surgical patients with urinary retention. Cabot advocated for national health insurance and full-time faculty appointments, which were controversial ideas at the time.

In 1930, he was relieved of his duties by the University Regents “in the interest of greater harmony.” Cabot then joined his friend William Mayo, a U-M Medical School graduate of 1883, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he remained until 1939.

In 1930, Reed Nesbit, MD, became the first chief of the Section of Urology. He presided over the section for nearly four decades at an exceptional time in the history of urology. Nesbit, who was educated at Stanford University, was recruited to the U-M Medical School by Hugh Cabot, then chair of the Department of Surgery. Under his astute leadership, the section prospered and continued to heal hundreds of thousands of adult and pediatric patients in the State of Michigan and beyond.

Nesbit made prominent contributions to pediatric urology, including the Cabot-Nesbit style single stage orchidopexy in 1931. He pioneered the method of transurethral resection of the prostate. Nesbit’s 1943 textbook “Transurethral Prostatectomy” became the standard in the United States. A respected innovator who achieved national and international recognition for this work, he developed the operation for treating Peyronie’s disease.

Nesbit also published the “Fundamentals of Urology” in 1942, a seminal textbook in the field. Over the course of his tenure, he authored more than 150 scientific papers. In 1967, he became president of the American College of Surgeons, the first urologist to hold that position.

A revered educator, Nesbit trained over 80 residents, 18 of whom became chief of urology in medical schools in the United States and abroad.

He retired from the Section of Urology and relocated to El Macero, California in 1968, where he served as lecturer of surgery and special assistant to the dean at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine.

In 1972, The Reed M. Nesbit Urologic Society, the alumni organization of the U-M Department of Urology, was established.

In 2007, the Reed M. Nesbit Professorship in Urology was established at the U-M in his honor with Edward J. McGuire, MD, serving as the first Nesbit professor. Julian Wan, MD, is the current holder, since September 2013.

In 1968, Jack Lapides, MD, a native of Rochester, New York, became chief of the Section of Urology, a position he held until 1983. Trained by former chair Reed Nesbit, MD, Lapides proved to be one of the most influential figures in urology in the century. His contributions to basic and clinical research led to seminal changes in the treatment of many urological conditions, including the development of clean intermittent self-catheterization in the management of neurogenic bladder, an approach that ran counter to established medical practice at the time but proved to be one of the most important offerings to the field.

A prominent force in academic research and scholarship, Lapides is the author of 198 scientific papers and two textbooks on urology, including the Fundamentals of Urology published in 1976. He is also the author of 28 chapters in textbooks. Lapides’ contribution of clean intermittent self-catheterization was listed by the Journal of Urology as one of the 100 major urologic contributions of the 20th century.

During his tenure, he received numerous honors and awards, including the prestigious Ramon Guiteras Award in 1987, and the Pediatric Urology Medal in 1989. Lapides also participated actively in national and international urologic societies.

He was a Rockefeller Research Associate in the U-M Department of Physiology from 1936-38 and completed his surgical and urologic training at the U-M, interrupted by military service as a flight surgeon in the Pacific Theater from 1941-46.

In 1983, under Lapides’ guidance, Carol Bennett, MD, an African American woman, completed her residency at U-M, making her the first female urologist trained at the Medical School. Bennett went on to help a patient achieve the first pregnancy in the United States from a paraplegic man with a semen sample produced by electroejaculation.

In 1984, following a longstanding career as a surgeon, educator and researcher, Lapides retired from active faculty status. The U-M Regents honored him with the distinction of professor emeritus of surgery.

Edward McGuire, MD, was recruited from Yale University to become the chief of the Section of Urology in 1983, following retirement of his predecessor Jack Lapides, MD.

An accomplished and innovative surgeon, McGuire was one of the contemporary forces in the areas of urinary tract infection, urodynamics and pelvic surgery. His clinical and basic research led to greater understanding of the way lower urinary dysfunction can damage kidney function, and the mechanisms enmeshed in that process. McGuire also helped to develop injectable agents for incontinence with his team of U-M researchers.  

An active member of national and international organizations and societies, he was a founding member and former president of the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine and Urogenital Reconstruction, associate editor of the Journal of Urology and the Journal of Pelvic Surgery, and a feature editor of the Journal of Neurobiology and Urodynamics. McGuire was also a member of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons and American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons.

During his tenure, McGuire played a key role in international outreach and collaboration for residents to travel to Haiti and trainee exchanges with Ireland. He eliminated the partition between the staff and residents’ clinics, which resulted in greater oversight of residents.

A native of East Lansing, Michigan, McGuire earned his medical degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, and completed his surgery and urology training at Yale University with a one-year fellowship at the London Hospital in England. Drafted into the army following his internship, McGuire was sent to San Antonio, Texas for basic training. Four weeks later he was in an infantry battalion in Vietnam. During his service he received an Army Commendation Medal and four Bronze Stars. McGuire’s decision to specialize in urology came to him while in Vietnam.

He loved the ability to recruit new residents and watch them grow, as well as see the faculty grow up over the years.

McGuire left the university in 1993, unhappy with the sectional status of urology in the Department of Surgery, to assume leadership of the Department of Urology at the University of Texas in Houston. He returned to the U-M in 1999, and in 2007 was appointed the Reed Nesbit Professor of Urology. In 2013, he received the title of professor emeritus of urology and had an active appointment until August 2017.

H. Barton Grossman, MD, a Lapides trainee and world-class urologic oncologist, became interim chief of the Section of Urology in 1992, following McGuire’s exit. Despite his limited tenure, Grossman kept the section on solid footing, providing continued excellence in urologic cancer care.

A native of Tampa, Florida, he earned an MD degree from Temple University in 1970. Grossman completed a surgical internship at U-M, followed by two years in the Air Force. He returned to Ann Arbor in 1973, and finished a year in general surgery residency at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital before beginning his urology residency in Lapides’ program at University Hospital. After completing his residency in 1977, Grossman stayed on with the urology staff. He also completed a fellowship in urological oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York.

Grossman set an example for vigorous research. Collaborating with surgical technician Gary Wedemeyer, he and his team developed 14 bladder tumor cell lines, as well as cell lines in renal and testis cancer. Grossman also served as principal and/or co-investigator on a number of grants from the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society, Centers for Disease Control while at U-M. He recruited Monica Liebert, PhD, an immunologist working in nuclear medicine under Richard Wahl, MD, at the U-M Rogel Cancer Center.

With the aid of his staff, he developed a thriving practice in surgical oncology to provide a full spectrum of care, including nerve-sparing radical prostatectomies and continent urinary diversion in bladder cancer. Radiation oncology and medical oncology rounded out treatment for urologic oncology patients, including conformal radiation therapy, seed implantation and chemotherapy.

In 1994, Grossman left the U-M for the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, where he spent the rest of his career.

In 1994, Joseph Oesterling, MD, assumed the role of chief of the Section of Urology, having trained at Johns Hopkins and then serving on the Mayo Clinic staff. Urologic research grew under Oesterling and he attracted numerous clinical trials for a range of drugs and techniques such as transurethral microwave ablation of the prostate.

Oesterling recruited new faculty, including Johns Hopkins-trained Kenneth Pienta, MD, and Cleveland Clinic-trained James Montie, MD, in 1994, who came from the oncology faculty at Wayne State University Medical School in Detroit. Two years later, Oesterling recruited Stuart Wolf, MD, to develop a program in laparoscopy and minimally invasive surgery in urology.

Oesterling garnered attention for his support of the nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy as the procedure of choice in the treatment of localized prostate cancer. His practice grew rapidly and soon he was performing three to four radical prostatectomies per day.

By the time Oesterling arrived at U-M in 1994, he had published over 100 technical journal articles focused largely on prostate cancer and prostate-specific antigen. In 1991, he became editor of Urology, one of the two major urologic journals published in the United States.

Oesterling found the section on a trajectory of innovation and growth when he stepped into the role. In 1995, the U-M Urology program was ranked 24th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Just one year later, in 1996, that ranking catapulted to #14 nationally.

In 1997, Oesterling was abruptly relieved of his position due to “administrative irregularities.” He was found misrepresenting travel expenses and payment and submitting misleading research data. Oesterling resigned as section head and from the faculty. He subsequently pleaded guilty to felony charges.

Despite this setback, several trainees during this era continued onto stellar academic careers, including John Park, MD, who went on to train in Pediatric Urology at Boston Children’s Hospital and Cheryl Lee, MD, who went on to train at Memorial Sloan Kettering, in the footsteps of her mentor Dr. Montie.

Park returned to the University of Michigan Department of Urology and is now Chief of Pediatric Urology. Lee returned to University of Michigan Department of Urology in the division of oncology prior to taking her new role as Chair of the Department of Urology at the Ohio State University.

In 1997, James Montie, MD, took over as interim head of the Section of Urology, and, in 2001, became inaugural chair of the new Department of Urology when the sections of urology, neurosurgery and orthopaedic surgery emerged from the Department of Surgery as independent entities. Montie was known for his outstanding leadership in the field of urologic oncology, and his lifelong commitment to the advancement of urological education.

In 2007, Montie established the Division of Health Services Research in the U-M Department of Urology, which has grown to be the largest urologic health services research group in the world. He is a founding co-director of the Michigan Urologic Surgery Improvement Collaborative, which has 240 participating urologists in the State of Michigan contributing prospective data on quality improvement interventions for prostate cancer care. Montie also served as co-principal investigator in the U-M Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in prostate cancer from 2000-2012. 

Active in a number of national and international organizations, he was a founding member and past president of the Society of Urologic Oncology, a member of the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons and the Clinical Society of Genitourinary Surgeons. Montie became the Valassis Professor of Urologic Oncology in 1996 after a generous gift from George and Sandy Valassis. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Urological Association in 2016.

Montie received his MD degree in 1971 from U-M. He completed his urologic surgical residency at the Cleveland Clinic in 1976 and, after two years in the Air Force, went to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in 1978 to study urologic oncology. After posts at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and Florida, and Wayne State University in Detroit, he joined U-M as professor of surgery in 1995.

In 2007, after nearly 10 years of service, Montie stepped down as chair to continue his research on the quality of care for patients with urologic cancer at U-M. He retired in May 2015 as emeritus professor of urology and has held an active appointment since.

Bloom presided over the Department of Urology for 12 years. Under his chairmanship, from 2007 to 2019, the department made notable contributions along every dimension of its mission in clinical care, research and education.

Bloom supported robust approaches to innovation, collaboration and expansion, formalizing the divisions: Andrology and Urologic Health; Ann Arbor VA Urology; Dow Health Services Research; Endourology; Neurourology and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery; Pediatric Urology; and Urologic Oncology and Laboratory Research. Today, the department has the largest urologic health services research division in the country among its peer institutions, and was one of the initial members of the U-M Institute for Health Policy and Innovation.

An accomplished pediatric surgeon, Bloom set his focus on the areas of genitourinary reconstruction, lower urinary tract dysfunction, genital anomalies, neurogenic bladder and laparoscopy. During his tenure, Bloom and his team were instrumental in advancing the management and understanding of numerous pediatric urological conditions, including laparoscopic management of cryptorchidism and the hostile bladder in spina bifida.

Under Bloom, the department grew by leaps and bounds. When he began as chair in 2007, faculty numbered 24. In 2019, the department highlights a roster of 51 faculty members, of which 45 are clinical and 6 are research.

Enhancing the research environment was also a priority for Bloom. He was steadfast in recruiting visionary clinical researchers to ensure the department remained at the forefront of scientific discovery; most notably Ganesh Palapattu, MD, Todd Morgan, MD and Simpa Salami, MD. Currently, the unit supports six basic science laboratories of Mark Day, PhD, Evan Keller, PhD, DVM, William Roberts, MD and the three faculty above.

During this time, the residency program changed from a six-year program with a mandated research year during the fourth year to a five-year program with an elective sixth year of research.

On a philosophical level, Bloom believed strongly in having a clear vision for the department’s goals, but not in micromanaging every step. He was noted for asking people, “What do you think and what do you want to do,” when discussing complex issues.

A generous gift from Brian and Mary Campbell (2006) established the Bloom Professorship. During Bloom’s term as chair, five additional endowed professorships were inaugurated, including the Nesbit Professorship (2007), Chang Professorship (2007), G. & S. Valassis Professorship (2008), Moyad Professorship (2010) and McGuire Professorship (2013), which were created by other generous donors. Bequests from Stephen and Faith Brown, C. Peter and Beverly Fischer and Frank Legacki and Alicia Torres among others are making the future of Michigan Urology even brighter.

Bloom took urology on the road to Grayling (1985), Kalamazoo (1995) and Dearborn (1995). Since then John Park, MD, Julian Wan, MD, Vesna Ivančić, MD, Kate Kraft, MD, Bryan Sack, MD and Courtney Streur, MD continued and expanded pediatric urology in Midland, Marquette, Muskegon, Northville and Brighton. The Department of Urology as a whole continues its work as well in Midland, Flint, Wyoming at Metro Hospital, Muskegon, Chelsea, Livonia, and Brighton and internationally in Ghana, Kenya and Belize.

He published more than 160 papers and 68 book chapters, and served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Pediatric Urology, British Journal of Urology, Urology, Contemporary Urology, and the Journal of Endourology and was a consultant for Stedman’s Medical Dictionary.

Bloom served as a trustee of the American Board of Urology, president of the American Academy of Pediatric Section on Urology, director of the American Board of Medical Specialties, president of the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons and is a governor of the American College of Surgeons. During his term as chair, he served as vice-chair of the U-M Health System Faculty Group Practice and University of Michigan Medical Group.

Bloom earned his medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1971. After serving an internship in surgery at University of California, Los Angeles, he completed dual residencies in general surgery and urology in 1975-76, both at UCLA Medical Center, in addition to a fellowship in pediatric urology at the Institute of Urology of the University of London. After four years in the armed services at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Washington, DC, Bloom separated as a lieutenant colonel, and joined the U-M Medical School as an assistant professor and chief of pediatric urology in 1984.

Bloom was awarded the 2019 Spence Medal by the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons (AAGUS) at their annual meeting. The Spence medal was created in 1994 to honor Dr. Harry M. Spence and is awarded for outstanding achievements in Urology. The AAGUS (founded in 1886) is an international society comprising the most preeminent academic urologists in the world.

In February 2019, Bloom stepped down as chair and will remain on the faculty. As a medical historian, he plans to complete two volumes of the departmental history, continue to see patients in Flint and complete projects for the U-M Medical School and Michigan Medicine.

Palapattu earned his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and moved to Los Angeles to complete his urologic training at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. As a second-year urology resident, he met David Bloom for the first time when Bloom was a visiting professor at UCLA (where Bloom also trained). Palapattu went on to complete a laboratory fellowship in Urologic Oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Following appointments at University of Rochester and Houston Methodist Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College, he was recruited in 2012 to the University of Michigan by James Montie to serve as the new Chief of Urologic Oncology in the Department of Urology here at Michigan Medicine.

In February 2019, Palapattu started as Chair of the Department of Urology. As he starts his role as the 9th Chair of Urology at Michigan Medicine, he has pledged to continue the Department’s tradition of excellence in clinical care, education and research. In addition, sensing an opportunity, he has challenged the Department to lead, both institutionally and nationally, in two critical areas: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Wellness. Further, Palapattu intends to bring back a focus on research within our residency training program. With support from the Department, Palapattu has set the Department’s long-term vision: To eliminate suffering from urologic disease…Forever.