Charles Byron Wilson (August 31, 1929 – February 24, 2018) was an American neurosurgeon.

Education

When Wilson's college football career was cut short due to an ankle injury, he studied medicine, finishing first in his class in 1954. He served a rotating internship and a year in pathology at Charity Hospital, where he was drawn to the studies of neuropathology, neurology and neuroanatomy, and decided to become a neurosurgeon.

Career

Wilson joined the faculty of

Louisiana State University Medical School Louisiana State University School of Medicine refers to two separate medical schools in Louisiana: LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans and LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport. See also * LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans * LSU Health Scien ...

, where he was assistant professor of neurosurgery from 1961 to 1963. Moving to Lexington, he founded the Division of Neurosurgery at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

. There he became interested in malignant gliomas and created specialized laboratory and research programs. He was named professor and chairman of the Division of Neurosurgery at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

in 1968. According to Dr. Susan Chang, director of UCSF's neuro-oncology division, “

ilson Ilson Wilians Rodrigues (born March 12, 1979) is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays for América Futebol Clube (SP). His previous clubs include FC Shinnik Yaroslavl and C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Mar ...

was a visionary in how he built a multidisciplinary approach to studying brain cancer, linking basic science and clinical research together. He was able to set up an infrastructure to test new therapies on tumors and spare patients the side effects of treatments.” In 1985 Wilson became Tong-Po Kan Professor of Neurosurgery. He was profiled by Malcolm Gladwell for ''The New Yorker'' in 1999, where Gladwell argued that Wilson was an example of “physical genius,” and compared him to such figures as Wayne Gretsky,

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (''Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...

and

Tony Gwynn Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr. (May 9, 1960 – June 16, 2014), nicknamed "Mr. Padre", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played 20 seasons (1982–2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left-handed hit ...

. Wilson performed over 2,000 transsphenoidal surgeries. After his death, a New York ''Times'' articled described him as “a pioneering and virtuosic San Francisco neurosurgeon who used operating rooms like stages, sometimes performing as many as eight surgeries a day, all while building a leading brain tumor research center.”

Accomplishments and awards

Wilson received the Outstanding Clinical Instructor and Outstanding Clinical Professor awards at Kentucky. He was the Wilder Penfield Lecturer, the Herbert Olivecrona Lecturer, and the R. Eustace Semmes Lecturer, among others. He published over 500 articles and book chapters and served on several editorial boards, including that of ''The Journal of Neurosurgery'', which he chaired from 1981–1983.

Miscellany

Wilson was a pianist, and enjoyed running marathons. He co-founded the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance, which provides healthcare programs in African countries affected by AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. He raised money and determined policy for Clinic by the Bay, which offers free medical services to uninsured people in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

area. Wilson is survived by his fifth wife, Frances Petrocelli; his daughter, Rebecca Cohn; his son, Byron; a stepdaughter, Kathryn Petrocelli; four grandchildren, and two step-grandchildren.

References

1929 births 2018 deaths American neurosurgeons American neuroscientists Louisiana State University faculty People from Neosho, Missouri {{med-bio-stub