Chester R. Burns (1937-2006) and the origins of the American Osler Society

The American Osler Society (AOS) traces its origin to a 1970 symposium on Humanism in Medicine in Galveston, Texas. Although John P. McGovern (1921-2007) receives credit for conceiving the symposium and spearheading formation of the AOS, Chester Ray Burns (1937-2006) played a key role that has not been sufficiently recognized. Burns, the first American-born physician to receive a doctorate in the history of medicine from the Johns Hopkins University, did much and perhaps most of the organizational work and brought to the symposium a perspective on the crossroads between medicine and the humanities that proved essential to the nascent organization's success. Burns went on to a productive career at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, became the 35th president of the AOS, and is among the relatively few physician-historians to have published scholarly articles in the history of medicine, medical biography, medical ethics, and philosophy as related to medicine.