Bill Text: VA HJR925 | 2019 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Celebrating the life of Milton Thomas Edgerton, Jr., M.D.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-3)
Status: (Passed) 2019-02-21 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ925ER) [HJR925 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2019-HJR925-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Milton Thomas Edgerton, Jr., M.D., a groundbreaking leader in the fields of plastic surgery and reconstructive surgery who touched countless lives through his unparalleled expertise and care for his patients, died on May 17, 2018; and
WHEREAS, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Edgerton earned a bachelor's degree from Emory University and a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University, then served his country during World War II as a captain in the United States Army Medical Corps, treating combat-wounded patients at Valley Forge General Hospital; and
WHEREAS, after his honorable military service, Dr. Edgerton returned to Johns Hopkins University, where he completed a residency in surgery and served a term as the first official resident in the new field of plastic surgery; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Edgerton went on to establish the Division of Plastic Surgery and the Plastic Surgery Training Program at Johns Hopkins University, becoming the first full-time chief of plastic surgery, plastic surgeon-in-chief, and professor of plastic surgery; and
WHEREAS, as founder of the Plastic Surgery Research Council, Dr. Edgerton was a trailblazer in the field, taking many cases that some colleagues deemed too risky or controversial; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Edgerton was an innovative leader in plastic surgery for pediatric patients, and in 1969, he performed one of his most difficult and highly publicized procedures, when he became the first plastic surgeon to successfully correct orbital hypertelorism by altering the skull of a patient born with craniofacial deformities to move her eyes nearly two inches closer together; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Edgerton helped establish the Johns Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic, one of the first such clinics in the country specializing in gender-reassignment or gender-confirmation surgeries; by 1969, the clinic had received more than 1,500 requests for treatment and had provided guidance to surgeons throughout the United States; and
WHEREAS, after his distinguished career at John Hopkins University, Dr. Edgerton relocated to the Commonwealth to serve as the chair of the Division of Plastic Surgery at the University of Virginia Medical Center, where he subsequently established and led the institution's Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, one of the first such departments in the United States; and
WHEREAS, respected for his expertise and forward-thinking leadership throughout the nation, Dr. Edgerton served as president of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, and in 1974, he received what was then the highest honor in plastic surgery, the Dow Corning International Award of Merit; and
WHEREAS, over the course of his long and fulfilling career, Dr. Edgerton authored more than 500 peer-reviewed medical papers and four medical textbooks, including one of the first books on human ear reconstruction, and he was a sought-after speaker on a variety of subjects related to plastic surgery; and
WHEREAS, after his well-earned retirement as a surgeon in 1994, Dr. Edgerton continued to serve the members of the Charlottesville community, and in 2011, he created the Milton T. Edgerton, M.D. Professorship in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to support other exceptional plastic surgeons; and
WHEREAS, predeceased by his wife of 64 years, Patricia, Dr. Edgerton will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his children, Bradford, William, Sandy, and Diane, and their families, and numerous other family members, friends, colleagues, and patients whose lives he changed for the better; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Milton Thomas Edgerton, Jr., M.D., a respected leader in plastic surgery and reconstructive surgery; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Milton Thomas Edgerton, Jr., M.D., as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for his memory.
