International Journal of Cardiology, 26 (1990) 243-244 Elsevier

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CARD10 01012

Obituary

In Memory of John J. Fenoglio Jr. August 31,1943-August 7,1989

John J. Fenoglio Jr. died on August 7, 1989 after a long illness. He was a renowned cardiac pathologist and a dynamic educator. Graduated from Harvard College and Georgetown University Medical School, Dr. Fenoglio came to Columbia- Presbyterian Medical Center, New York. for train- ing in pathology. Except for 3 years, during which time he received subspecialty training at the U.S. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, he spent his entire professional career in the Department of Pathology, Columbia University, College of Physi- cians and Surgeons. Perhaps best known for co- authoring the fascicle from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology devoted to tumors of the cardiovascular system, Dr. Fenoglio conducted many clinicopathologic correlation studies cover- ing a broad spectrum from congenital heart de- fects to acquired heart disease among the elderly. Dr. Fenoglio was one of the first to recognize the utility of the endomyocardial biopsy in the diag-

nosis of inflammatory heart disease, and he was instrumental in developing a clinically useful di- agnostic scheme for myocarditis, a forerunner of the “Dallas criteria” currently in use. In more basic studies he was very much interested in mech- anisms of post-infarction ventricular arrhythmias and, in particular, the anatomic basis for these rhythm disturbances. For these investigations, Dr. Fenoglio virtually pioneered the use of electron microscopy in conjunction with cardiac electro- physiology.

What people outside the medical center com- munity may not realize is that Dr. Fenoglio was an excellent teacher who was devoted to his stu- dents. He loved to stand in front of a group and share his knowledge of pathology. Countless sec- ond-year medical students at Columbia University learned cardiac pathology from him, and he was elected Teacher-of-the-Year by several classes. All residents in the training program at Columbia-

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Presbyterian Medical Center during the last 12 years learned autopsy pathology from Dr. Fenoglio. In his dynamic way, he challenged each person to strive towards the pursuit of excellence. Many pathologists will remember the short course in cardiovascular pathology that Dr. Fenoglio gave over several years for the U.S./Canadian Division of the International Academy of Pathology.

At the time of his death, Dr. Fenoglio was

Department of Pathology Columbia University New York

NY 10032, U.S.A.

Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Pathology, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons; Director of Medical and Pediatric Pathology; Director of the Division of Cardiovascular Pathology; and Attending Pa- thologist at Presbyterian Hospital in the City of New York. Regrettably, Dr. Fenoglio’s career was cut short but many, many people will remember him for a long time.

Phillip C. Ursell Charles C. Marboe