Obituaries
Three ACP leaders recently passed away: Norton “Nortie” Greenberger, MD, MACP, former ACP President; Ben D. Hall, MD, MACP, former ASIM President and ACP President Emeritus; and J. Frederick Ralston Jr., MD, MACP, former ACP President.
Norton “Nortie” Greenberger, MD, MACP
Norton “Nortie” Greenberger, MD, MACP, died on March 21.
He served as ACP President from 1990 to 1991. Most recently, Dr. Greenberger had retired from his position as clinical professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Dr. Greenberger graduated in 1959 from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland, where he also completed his internal medicine residency. From 1962 to 1965, he completed his gastroenterology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
His academic career began at the Wexner School of Medicine at Ohio State University in Columbus, where, from 1965 to 1972, he pursued his research and eventually became professor and chief of the division of gastroenterology. Dr. Greenberger then was appointed chairman of the department of medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City and served in the position for 28 years. In 2002, he returned to Boston, joining Brigham and Women's as a senior physician and distinguished clinician.
Ben D. Hall, MD, MACP
Ben D. Hall, MD, MACP, died on April 8 at the age of 95.
He served as President of the American Society of Internal Medicine from 1978 to 1979 and was named President Emeritus of ACP in 2005. Dr. Hall practiced internal medicine as a member of The Medical Group in Johnson City, Tenn., from 1953 until his retirement in 1992.
He graduated in 1947 from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine and went on to serve as a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps at Fort Benning, Ga., and Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu. Later on, he helped establish the James H. Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University, where he served as clinical professor of medicine.
J. Frederick Ralston Jr., MD, MACP
J. Frederick Ralston Jr., MD, MACP, died on April 1 at the age of 65.
He served as Transitional Governor of the ACP Tennessee Chapter from 1998 to 1999 and Governor of the chapter from 2001 to 2005. After that, Dr. Ralston served as Chair of the ACP Board of Governors from 2005 to 2006 and as ACP President from 2010 to 2011. He was a past recipient of the ACP Tennessee Chapter's Laureate Award.
Dr. Ralston graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in 1980 and completed his internal medicine residency at Baptist Hospital in Memphis. Following his residency, he returned to his hometown of Fayetteville, Tenn., where he worked at Fayetteville Medical Associates for 37 years until his death.
