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Isidore Cohn

In Memoriam: Isidore Cohn

(09/25/1921 - 10/14/2015)Member since 1963

Isidore Cohn Jr., MD, DSc, emeritus member of the AACR, died at the age of 94. Cohn was emeritus chairman and professor of surgery at the Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Medicine in New Orleans.

Cohn served as editor of 10 peer-reviewed medical journals throughout his career, as well as president of the New Orleans Surgical Society, the Surgical Association of Louisiana, the Southeastern Cancer Research Association, the Southern Surgical Association, and as vice president of American College of Surgeons. He also served as director of the National Pancreatic Cancer Project of the National Institutes of Health.

Raised in New Orleans, Cohn received his degrees from the University of Pennsylvania before returning to his home town to pursue his career in medicine. Cohn became chair of the Department of Surgery at LSU in 1962 and concurrently served as surgeon-in-chief of the LSU service at Charity Hospital.

In 1987, a group of former surgical residents funded the Isidore Cohn Jr. professorship of surgery at LSU School of Medicine in recognition of his mentoring. Additionally, former surgical residents and the James D. Rives Surgical Society, which has since been renamed the Isidore Cohn Jr.-James D. Rives Surgical Society, were major donors in 2002 for the Isidore Cohn Jr., MD, Student Learning Center, which is a surgical training facility at LSU School of Medicine.

Cohn has been recognized for his contributions to science and medicine, as well as for his involvement in his New Orleans community, with myriad honors, including the Founders Medal from the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, the Spirit of Charity Award from the Medical Center of Louisiana, honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of South Carolina, Outstanding Alumnus from the Isidore Newman School, the Tzedakah Award from the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana, the Chairman’s Award from the Arts Council of New Orleans, and the Isaac Delgado Award from the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Cohn first joined the AACR in 1963.