Robert S. Stone (February 10, 1922 – October 20, 2016) was an American physician. He served as the Director of The

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

from May 29, 1973, to January 31, 1975. Stone also served as the vice president for health services and dean of the school of medicine at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

, dean of the School of Medicine of the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

Health Sciences Center and vice president of the Health Sciences Center, and dean of the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

Early years

Stone was born in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

on February 10, 1922. He received his B.A. in 1942 from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

and his M.D. from the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in 1950.

Career

Stone was an instructor in

pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (officially known as Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons) is the medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irvin ...

from 1950 to 1952 while fulfilling his

medical residency Residency or postgraduate training is a stage of graduate medical education. It refers to a qualified physician (one who holds the degree of MD, DO, MBBS/MBChB), veterinarian ( DVM/VMD, BVSc/BVMS), dentist ( DDS or DMD), podiatrist ( DPM), o ...

requirement in pathology at

NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (abbreviated as NYP) is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City. It is the primary teaching hospital for Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The hospi ...

. In 1952, Stone moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and joined the faculty of UCLA's School of Medicine, department of pathology. As part of his academic duties at UCLA, Stone served as the deputy

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

at Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, and as a pathologist for the Los Angeles Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children. He also served as the chief of research in pathology for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission from 1959 to 1960 and a collection of his speeches is held at the National Library of Medicine. Stone also served as the vice president for health services and dean of the school of medicine at the University of New Mexico. While at the University of New Mexico, he worked to increase diversity within the school of medicine by hiring minority faculty members and appointing a woman to a key leadership role. One of his hires, Dr. Alonzo Atencio, PhD, began a high school student recruitment program. In 1972, he obtained funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Hispanic Centers of Excellence for the Basic Sciences Enrichment Program, which provided pre-entry basic science education for incoming minority medical students. He was also dean of the School of Medicine of the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center and vice president of the Health Sciences Center, and dean of the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

Research

While on sabbatical as a visiting scientist at The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in 1959, he was credited with demonstrating by electron microscopy that the

Shope papilloma virus The Shope papilloma virus (SPV), also known as cottontail rabbit papilloma virus (CRPV) or ''Kappapapillomavirus 2'', is a papillomavirus which infects certain leporids, causing keratinous carcinomas resembling horns, typically on or near t ...

of rabbits could be found in mature skin cells, but was undetectable, although presumed present, in younger growing cells. Stone is credited with helping to develop the idea of using a method control population to study the rates of given diseases for comparison. He was also one of the first researchers to suggest that radiation exposure increases the incidence of certain known diseases rather than creating new types.

NIH Director

On May 29, 1973, Stone was nominated by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

to the position of Director of the

. He served two years and was fired in January 1975 after he "became an advocate of medical research rather than an emissary of the HEW secretary's office, he had failed to relate the federal governments health research effort to the developing health services activities and failing to give strong direction to the NIH."

Personal life

Stone was married to Mary Stone, an acclaimed artist. She had her work exhibited near Texas A&M at the Texas Gallery and also in the Reynolds Medical Building. On a regular basis, her pieces were entered into and captured awards from juried art shows around the nation. The couple's contribution to

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

was such that the Medical Sciences Courtyard Pavilion at the Joe H. Reynolds Medical Building located on the College of Medicine College Station Campus was named in honor of Robert S. Stone, M.D. and Mary E. Stone. Stone died on October 20, 2016, in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

References

LeBaron, Wayne D. (1998). America's nuclear legacy. Nova Publishers. pp. 99–100. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Robert 1922 births 2016 deaths American scientists Directors of the National Institutes of Health Brooklyn College alumni Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine alumni Nixon administration personnel Ford administration personnel