Ephraim Engleman (March 24, 1911 – September 2, 2015
) was an American
rheumatologist
Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...
and a Clinical Professor of Medicine 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 con ...
.
He had a major national and international impact on rheumatology during more than six decades, and wrote more than one hundred scientific and medical papers.
Engleman received his B.S. from
Stanford University in 1933 and his M.D. from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1937. He saw military service as a
major during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, serving as chief of the U.S. Army’s Rheumatic Fever Center at Torney General Hospital. In 1942, he was one of two authors of the first English language medical article describing the triad of
uveitis
Uveitis () is inflammation of the uvea, the pigmented layer of the eye between the inner retina and the outer fibrous layer composed of the sclera and cornea. The uvea consists of the middle layer of pigmented vascular structures of the eye and in ...
,
urethritis
Urethritis is the inflammation of the urethra. The most common symptoms include painful or difficult urination and urethral discharge. It is a commonly treatable condition usually caused by infection with bacteria. This bacterial infection is oft ...
, and
arthritis and coined the eponym Reiter's syndrome (now known as
reactive arthritis
Reactive arthritis, also known as Reiter's syndrome, is a form of inflammatory arthritis that develops in response to an infection in another part of the body (cross-reactivity). Coming into contact with bacteria and developing an infection can t ...
) after Dr.
Hans Conrad Julius Reiter. In 1947, he joined the clinical faculty at UCSF and spent the remaining 68 years of his professional medical career there, with a national and international impact on the field of rheumatology.
From 1962-1963, Engleman was president of the American Rheumatism Association, now the
American College of Rheumatology The American College of Rheumatology (ACR; until 1985 called American Rheumatism Association) is an organization of and for physicians, health professionals, and scientists that advances rheumatology through programs of education, research, advocacy ...
; president of the National Society of Clinical Rheumatology (1967-1969); president of the International League Against Rheumatism (1981-1985). In the latter position, he made several trips to mainland China and was influential in the creation of the Chinese Rheumatology Association. He also served as Chairman of the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...
’s task force on arthritis and on several committees of the
Natural Institutes of Health.
From 1975 to 1976, Engleman chaired the National Commission on Arthritis, a congressional mandated task force charged with recommending remedies for the inadequate status of arthritis research, teaching and patient care in the United States. The National Arthritis Plan, which summarized the commission’s recommendations, most of which were implemented, included the creation of what is now the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, and tripling of the ongoing federal budget for arthritis research. It also called attention to the surprising number of medical schools with no curriculum in rheumatology – a situation that changed quickly after the plan’s publication.
In 1979, Engleman became Founding Director of the Rosalind Russell Medical Research Center for Arthritis at UCSF. Its name has since changed. Engleman served as the Director of the Rosalind Russell/Ephraim P. Engleman Rheumatology Research Center at UCSF until his death in 2015.
Some of Engelman’s additional honors are recipient of the Medal of Honor at UCSF in 2002, “the most prestigious award given by UCSF”; recipient of the Presidential Gold Medal Award of the American College of Rheumatology, the highest national honor in the field of rheumatology; and recipient of Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons Gold Medal for excellence in clinical medicine in 2007, the highest honor the school’s alumni association can bestow.
In 2007, while still practicing rheumatology and after Reiter's
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
past became more widely known, Engleman went on record as calling for a replacement of the eponymous term for the disease with the name "
reactive arthritis
Reactive arthritis, also known as Reiter's syndrome, is a form of inflammatory arthritis that develops in response to an infection in another part of the body (cross-reactivity). Coming into contact with bacteria and developing an infection can t ...
."
Engleman wrote a book of memoirs, ''My Century''.
Active until his death, he was the longest-tenured professor of UCSF .
In January 2013, he was believed to be the lone surviving member of
Stanford University's Class of 1933.
Engleman died at the age of 104 on September 2, 2015 while at work as director of the Rosalind Russell/Ephraim P. Engleman Rheumatology Research Center at UCSF, which had been renamed in his honor the previous year.
Engleman was survived by his two sons, daughter Jill Roost, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Books
''The Arthritis Book: A Guide for Patients and Their Families'' Painter Hopkins Publishers, 1979. .
''My Century'' Matthew Krieger, 2013. .
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Engleman, Ephraim
1911 births
2015 deaths
American centenarians
Men centenarians
United States Army personnel of World War II
American rheumatologists
University of California, San Francisco faculty
Stanford University alumni
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni
United States Army officers