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OBITUARY: DAVID G. HANSON,
MD
On Wednesday, July 10th, 2002 Dr. David Hanson,
58, died of cancer at his home in La Porte,
Indiana. Until his recent illnesses, Dr. Hanson had
been Professor and Chairman of the Department of
Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery at Northwestern
University Medical School. He was also well known
for his expertise in laryngeal and voice
research.
Dr. Hanson was born in Seattle, Washington on
November 16th, 1943. He attended Wheaton College in
Illinois and medical school at the University of
Washington in Seattle, graduating in 1970. His
residency was done at the University of Minnesota
where he also obtained a Master of Science degree.
Following completion of his residency in 1975, Dr.
Hanson served three years on active-duty with the
United States Public Health Service as a Staff
Scientist at the National Institutes of Health
where he initiated and developed a program
involving clinical otolaryngology within the
Communicative Disorders Program.
In 1978, Dr. Hanson joined the academic faculty
of the Division of Head and Neck Surgery at the
University of California at Los Angeles. He served
as Chief of the section of Head and Neck Surgery at
the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West
Los Angeles and Vice Chief of the UCLA Division of
Head and Neck Surgery. It was during his tenure at
UCLA that Dr. Hanson's interest in clinical and
investigative laryngology evolved and his program
of laryngeal and voice research became increasingly
productive. Beginning in 1985, and continuously for
15 years until he became ill, his research was
funded by the N.I.H. and many contributions were
made to our understanding of laryngeal
physiology.
Dr. Hanson came to Northwestern University as
Professor and Chairman of the Department of
Otolaryngology - Head Neck Surgery in 1989 and
served in that capacity until 2000. Because of
illness, he stepped down from the chairmanship but
remained on the faculty until the time of his
death. He was also Professor of Communication
Sciences and Disorders in the Northwestern
University School of Speech. He maintained an
active laryngeal physiology laboratory that
continued to produce numerous publications and
helped train medical students, residents and
fellows. During his chairmanship, Dr. Hanson
revitalized the department's research laboratories.
He also recruited, encouraged and retained an
excellent clinical faculty that forms the basis of
today's fine department.
Dr. Hanson authored 85 original research papers
and 12 invited articles and book chapters. He was a
member of the American College of Surgeons,
American Broncho-Esophagological Association,
American Society of Head and Neck Surgery, American
Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery,
Triological Society, American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association, American
Laryngological Association, Association for
Research in Otolaryngology and the Chicago
Laryngological and Otological Society. He served on
the editorial boards of seven specialty journals
and saw many well-known performers who came to
Chicago with voice problems. A vocalist himself,
Dr. Hanson had a special rapport with singers who
consulted him.
For a professional whose special interest was
the larynx and voice, his own was soft-spoken and
gentle reflecting the kind individual who produced
it. I met David Hanson the first day he came to
Chicago to take over the chairmanship at
Northwestern, when I was chairman at the University
of Illinois. Our programs intersected at several
hospitals where both of our residents served. He
treated his residents kindly and was universally
liked by them and his fellow chairmen at
Northwestern. When illness forced him to step down
from the chairmanship in 2000, I was retiring from
the University of Illinois, and I was asked to head
the department of Northwestern. In the departmental
office I found a quotation from Dr. Hanson that
reads "I try to deal with everything I approach in
life with integrity and honesty-in patient,
personal and professional interactions." The person
that I knew, and the department that bears his
imprint, confirm the veracity of that
statement.
Dr. David Hanson has left his impact on the
specialty of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery,
Northwestern's department, and laryngeal and voice
research. He will be missed by his many friends and
colleagues who have benefited by his gentle
presence and by his dear wife Terri Dangerfield
Hanson.
Edward L. Applebaum, MD
Chicago, Illinois
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