Dr. Alexander J. Walt: Historian, philosopher, and surgical educator

• Published in: The American journal of surgery Vol. 225; no. 3; pp. 466 - 476
• Main Authors: Lucas, Charles E., Walt, Aaron M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.03.2023; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Apartheid; Bone surgery; Careers; Colleges & universities; Hospitals; Personal profiles; Police; Students; Surgeons; Surgery; Teaching; United Kingdom > UK; Detroit Michigan; United States > US; England; Italy; South Africa; Minnesota; Michigan
• ISSN: 0002-9610; 1879-1883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2022.11.013

Dr. Jon van Heerden, a retired endocrine surgeon at the Mayo Clinic, recalls his medical school days at UCT when Alec was his teacher.2 He states that all of the “distinct attributes for which he was to become so well known worldwide” were obvious to the medical students. The turning point for the serious beginning of the anti-apartheid movement and the decision by the Walt family to leave South Africa was the infamous Sharpville Massacre on March 21, 1960 when 69 peaceful unarmed protestors against apartheid were killed by the police.4 Following this tragedy, Alec's relative, Theodore Levin, the United States District Court Judge for the Eastern district of Michigan and husband of Dr. Walt's first cousin, wrote a forceful letter insisting they leave South Africa and come to the United States; this was permitted since their children had been born when Alec and Irene were at the Mayo Clinic.The new world Although Alec and Irene would certainly be welcomed by the people with whom he trained in England or in Rochester, Minnesota, they decided that the best move for them to make would be to move where they had family, namely, the Levin clan in Detroit. After moving to Detroit, Alec continued his university career and became an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Wayne State University (WSU) School of Medicine in Detroit and Consultant at the Veterans Administration Hospital (VAH) in nearby Allen Park. The Dean of the medical school was faced with a crisis in the Department of Surgery when, in 1966, Dr. Alan Thal, the WSU Chairman of Surgery accepted a position at the University of Kansas, and the Vice-Chief of Surgery, Dr. Raymond Read, accepted a position at the University of Arkansas.