Robert Malcolm Goldwyn (

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, 1930–2010) was an American surgeon; an

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, activist, Professor of Surgery at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, and Chief of

Plastic Surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniofa ...

at the Beth Israel Hospital from 1972 to 1996. He was the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of ''Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery'' for 25 years.

Education

Goldwyn was senior class president and graduated from

Worcester Academy Worcester Academy is a private school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is the oldest educational institution founded in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, and one of the oldest day-boarding schools in the United States. A coeducational prepara ...

in 1948 with second honors. He matriculated to Harvard College, then graduated as an MD from

. During his internship and residency (1956–1961) at the

Peter Bent Brigham Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is the second largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two f ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts, he was also the

Harvey Cushing Harvey Williams Cushing (April 8, 1869 – October 7, 1939) was an American neurosurgeon, pathologist, writer, and draftsman. A pioneer of brain surgery, he was the first exclusive neurosurgeon and the first person to describe Cushing's disease. ...

Fellow in Surgery. His training in plastic surgery was at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center from 1961 to 1963.

Activism and Preservation

In 1960, he worked with Dr.

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schweit ...

Lambaréné Lambaréné is a town and the capital of Moyen-Ogooué in Gabon. It has a population of 38,775 as of 2013, and is located 75 kilometres south of the equator. Lambaréné is based in the Central African Rainforest at the river Ogooué. This rive ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

for two months. In 1972, he established The National Archives of Plastic Surgery in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. He was a founding member of

Physicians for Social Responsibility Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is a physician-led organization in the US working to protect the public from the threats of nuclear proliferation, climate change, and environmental toxins. It produces and disseminates publications, p ...

and wrote articles on world peace, opposition to chemical and biological warfare, and medical ethics.

Awards and honors

When the New England Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons established the Robert M. Goldwyn Lifetime Achievement Award and made Goldwyn its first recipient, he stated, "I do not really deserve this. But as

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

said, ‘I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either.’ Goldwyn was a Visiting Professor to more than 70 institutions, universities, and hospitals in the United States and abroad and was an honorary member of more than a dozen national and international societies of plastic surgery. He was President of the 1994 Meeting of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons in St. Louis, Missouri. He was honored by France, Germany, and Italy with their highest medals for his work in plastic and reconstructive surgery. In Berlin, at the 2007 International Confederation for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, he presented the inaugural "Ulrich Hinderer Memorial Lecture". His other awards include the 2005 Honorary Kazanjian Lectureship, 1991 Clinician of the Year of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, the 2004 American Association of Plastic Surgeons Honorary Award, and the Presidential Citation of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.

Bibliography

As a writer, he authored or co-authored more than 350 articles, more than 10 books, more than 50 chapters, and edited books including: * ''The Unfavorable Result in Plastic Surgery: Avoidance and Treatment'' * ''Reconstructive Surgery of the Breast'' * ''Long-Term Results in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery'' * ''Reduction Mammaplasty'' * ''The Patient and the Plastic Surgeon'' * ''The Operative Note : Collected Editorials'' * ''The Physician Traveler'' (18 volumes) * ''Beyond Appearance: Reflections of a Plastic Surgeon'' - an autobiography * ''Retired not dead: thoughts plastic surgical and otherwise''

Retirement

Marking his retirement in 2004 as editor-in-chief of ''Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery'', Goldwyn was presented the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Special Recognition Award during the Plastic Surgery 2004 opening ceremonies in Philadelphia. The Journal's circulation, which was 5,100 when Goldwyn took over in 1980, by 2004 had achieved the number one peer-reviewed

impact factor The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an academic journal is a scientometric index calculated by Clarivate that reflects the yearly mean number of citations of articles published in the last two years in a given journal, as i ...

among all plastic surgery journals worldwide. His final book, ''Retired not dead: thoughts plastic surgical and otherwise,'' was published in 2008.

Death

At the age of 79, he died in his home in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...

, on March 23, 2010 after a 16-year battle with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

References

External links

History of Plastic Surgery, ROBERT M. GOLDWYN, MD (1930-2010)

''Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®'' search results for Goldwyn (700)

Bloomberg Businessweek: Robert Goldwyn Executive Profile and Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldwyn, Robert 1930 births 2010 deaths Academic journal editors American anti-war activists American medical researchers American memoirists American plastic surgeons American science writers Deaths from prostate cancer Harvard Medical School alumni Harvard Medical School faculty Historical preservationists Jewish American writers Medical journal editors People from Brookline, Massachusetts University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine alumni Writers from Worcester, Massachusetts 21st-century American Jews