The Department of Neurosurgery at NYU was established with the recruitment of Thomas I. Hoen in 1951. Hoen's academic credentials were impeccable (medical school at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD; a Halsted fellowship in surgery at Johns Hopkins; general surgery and then neurosurgical training at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, MA, under Harvey Cushing; and further neurosurgical training under Wilder Penfield at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, Canada). After training, Hoen accepted academic posts in Montreal and then was professor of neurology and neurosurgery at New York Medical College Flower and Firth Avenue Hospitals from 1931 to 1951.
Hoen, a tall, patrician, and imposing man, was also an accomplished cabinetmaker and an excellent musician. He was a superb surgical technician and a true gentleman. Hoen began the academic department and a formal training program in neurological surgery.
Hoen was succeeded by Joseph Ransohoff who was recruited from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1962. Ransohoff was the son of a successful surgeon in Cincinatti, OH, and was educated at Harvard, where he earned a degree in fine arts, and at the medical school of the University of Chicago. He completed his residency at Montefiore and was awarded a fellowship at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. Nevertheless, his "down-to-earth" persona fit in well at NYU, a school created for the"laboring class," and embodied the immense cultural and ethnic diversity that is New York City.
Consistent with his high energy level, Ransohoff had many scientific interests ranging from head and spinal cord injuries to subarachnoid hemorrhage and vasospasm. He was particularly interested in intracranial tumors, their surgery, and postoperative adjuvant therapy. He developed a large neurosurgical referral practice, which concentrated on brain tumors. He instilled in his residents an ethic of hard work, honesty, and scientific curiosity as he taught them how to be neurosurgeons. More than half of his trainees are still in academic neurosurgery. In addition, Ransohoff is, at least in part, responsible for the development of others who have remained and flourished in the Department of Neurosurgery at NYU. Among them are Jeffrey Wisoff.
Patrick J. Kelly /1883-2008 was recruited from the Mayo Clinic to become the Joseph P. Ransohoff professor and chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery in 1993. He also was interested in the surgical treatment of brain tumors and added his own interest in glial tumor biology and minimally invasive approaches to intracranial neoplasms by computer-assisted stereotactic methods.
Kelly brought to NYU computer interactive minimally invasive surgical techniques that were developed earlier in his career in Buffalo, NY, and refined at the Mayo Clinic. Computer-assisted, endoscopic, robotic, and neuroaugmentative techniques continue to evolve in collaboration with other clinical services and with the facilities available in the engineering, computer science, and robotics faculties of NYU. In addition, it was apparent that the Mayo Clinic style of efficient patient care delivery systems could be adapted to improve medical care delivery in New York City.
