It is with sadness that I report that Dale Tipton, MD passed away on August 28, 2019.
Dale was a graduate of the University of California, San Francisco residency program in Otolaryngology in 1966. His co-residents in that graduating class were Walter Henderson, MD, George Ryst, MD, and William McAfee, MD.
Dale was originally from Parsons, Kansas but he was raised in Sacramento, California and attended the University of California, Berkeley where he earned a B.A. in Physiology. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps in Korea from 1953-1955 and upon return matriculated at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. He was the President of his medical school class and received a Master of Science in Pharmacology in addition to his M.D. in 1959.
Dale was in private practice in San Francisco for just over 50 years. He was Chief of the Medical Staff at Ralph K. Davies Medical Center from 1982-1984, Chief of the Medical Staff at St. Lukes from 02-04, and was Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii as he joined the United States Army Reserves. Dale achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1985. Dale was also the Chief of Otolaryngology at San Francisco General Hospital in the 1970’s.
Dale was an African American surgeon at a time when few people of color had the opportunity to be trained in the surgical subspecialty fields. He was universally respected for his integrity. Dale was known as an extremely skilled clinician who took great care of his patients and built a community following based upon his insight and trustworthiness. He will be dearly missed by the medical community at UCSF.
-Andrew H. Murr, MD, FACS
Professor and Chairman
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
University of California, San Francisco
School of Medicine
