John T. Grayhack, MD, Chairman, 1961-1989
In 1956, Northwestern was most fortunate in recruiting Dr. John T. Grayhack to return to his native Illinois after two years in the Air Force. A recent bequest by a Northwestern alumnus and prominent Chicago Urologist, Herman Kretschmer, had provided the potential for a laboratory and Dr. Grayhack was engaged to direct the new urologic research facility.
John Grayhack was born in Kankakee, Illinois in 1923. He graduated from the University of Chicago as Phi Beta Kappa in 1945 and remained there to receive his medical degree and Alpha Omega Alpha membership in 1947. He served as an intern at the Billings Hospital on the medical service and then at the John Hopkins Hospital in surgery. He remained at Johns Hopkins to complete his urological residency in 1953. While at John Hopkins and with intentions of a career in general surgery, Dr. Grayhack came under the influence of William W. Scott, and as a result of this interaction he transferred his efforts to urology and research. During those years, Dr. Grayhack became a fellow of the American Cancer Society and of the Damon Runyon Fund. In collaboration with Dr. Scott, he published ten papers based on research on prostatic growth. He was invited to remain at Hopkins as an Assistant Professor but entered the Air Force in 1954 and served for two years.
In 1956, Dr. Grayhack arrived to build a urologic research laboratory at Northwestern. By 1961, he was promoted to Associate Professor and named to succeed Dr. O'Conor as Chairman. In 1963, he was named the Herman Kretschmer Professor, a post which he held for 28 years. He has published over 120 journal articles and 55 book chapters, and his investigations have continued to focus upon underlying mechanisms in prostate hyperplasia and malignancy. His papers and presentations have gained him world fame and innumerable honors, including the Hugh H. Young award, the Presidency of the American Board of Urology, the Presidency of the Clinical Society of Genitourinary Surgeons (CSGUS), the John Hopkins University Society of Scholars, the Fuller Award from the AUA, the Russell and Mary Hugh Scott Award from the AUA, the Presidency of the AAGUS, the Valentine Award from the New York Academy of Medicine, and the Ramon Guiteras Award from the AUA. Dr. Grayhack served as editor of the Yearbook of Urology for 15 years until 1978. He was associate editor of the Journal of Urology after 1982 and its editor from 1985 through 1994. He has also served upon the editorial boards of Urology, Surgery, Journal of the American Medical Association, Investigative Urology, Urology Digest, Gynecology and Obstetrics, Urology Update Series, Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Prostate, and Current Opinions in Urology.
When Dr. Grayhack became Chair, the Northwestern urology residency was extended to include a year of research fellowship in his laboratory. The residency program grew under his direction and was strengthened by an affiliation with Children's Memorial and Evanston Hospitals in 1970. The program has attracted many young physicians interested in an academic career or in the ability of a clinician to appreciate research. Approximately one-third of residents completing the program have entered academic careers.
