The Lewis Francis Morrison Endowed Lectureship
in Head and Neck Surgery

The Inaugural Lewis Francis Morrison, M.D. Endowed Lectureship in Head and Neck Surgery was held on March 24, 2005.

Dr. Lewis Francis Morrison attended UC Berkeley, receiving his BA in May 1920, his MS in bacteriology in December 1920 and his MD in 1926. He then entered into private practice in otorhinolaryngology with Wallace B. Smith, MD, and was appointed Instructor in the department of Otorhinolaryngology at UCSF, beginning a 30-year association with the university. He rose in the department from Instructor in 1928 to Clinical Professor and Chairman in 1944. He became a Director of the American Board of Otolaryngology in 1952. As a testament to his success at teaching, Dr. Morrison was presented with a silver laryngoscope at a testimonial dinner in 1952 by the doctors he had trained.

At the time of his death in 1958, he was president-elect of the Triological Society. Dr. Morrison is best known for his monumental contributions in laryngology. He clarified our understanding of anatomy of the recurrent laryngeal nerves, the paralyzed larynx and cancer therapy. He originated the reverse King operation, and pioneered the use of radioactive cobalt in otolaryngology and the application of Papanicolau smear technique for malignancies of the nasopharynx.

The Morrison Endowed Lectureship was established by a generous gift from Dr. Morrison's daughter Helen M. Elkus and her husband, Richard J. Elkus, Jr.

The first Morrison Lecturer was Herbert H. Dedo, MD, Professor, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Dedo has been associated with UCSF since 1951. He earned his BA at UC Berkeley in 1954 and his MD from UCSF in 1958. He joined the Department of Otolaryngology, UCSF, as an Assistant Professor in 1966. He served as Vice Chair in Otolaryngology from 1974 to 1991, becoming a Professor in 1982. He has received, for his research on laryngeal paralysis, the prestigious Harris P. Mosher Award of the Triological Society in 1970.

Dr. Dedo is renowned for inventing the Dedo-Pilling Laryngoscope and for developing recurrent laryngeal nerve resection for treatment of spasmodic dysphonia. Dr. Dedo is a world-famous laryngologist who trained in medical school when Dr. Morrison, whose main interest was the larynx, was the Chair of the Division of Otolaryngology at UCSF.

Dr. Herbert Dedo (left), Dr. Morrison's daughter Helen M. Elkus with her husband, Richard J. Elkus, Jr. (center) and Dr. David W. Eisele (right)