We are very grateful for our donors, particularly those who support our educational mission through named lectureships, including the I. Jerome Flance Visiting Lectureship and the Schuster Lectureship.

Flance lectureship

In 1976, friends and patients established the I. Jerome Flance Visiting Lectureship to honor his excellence in teaching. This lectureship enables the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine to host a distinguished physician to share expertise in clinical investigation and basic science of lung disease. This activity also reminds us annually of Dr. Flance’s extraordinary dedication to the art and science of medicine.

Each year, the division invites a distinguished pulmonary physician as its I. Jerome Flance Visiting Lecturer in honor of Dr. Flance, an esteemed member of the pulmonary community at Washington University Medical Center. The Flance lecturer participates in two days of activities with students, house staff, fellows and faculty, culminating in the Flance lecture.

About Dr. Flance

I. Jerome Flance, MD in whose honor this visiting professorship was established, graduated from Washington University School of Medicine in 1935. He served his Internship and Residency in the Department of Pathology at Jewish Hospital followed by residencies at Robert Koch Hospital, at that time the St. Louis City Tuberculosis Hospital and the Pneumonia Service at Harlem Hospital in New York. On his return to St. Louis, he joined the clinical faculty at Washington University where he became the Director of the Washington University Pulmonary Service at St. Louis City Hospitals. In 1953, Dr. Flance initiated the Home Care Program at Jewish Hospital serving for eleven years as its director and instituting a home care program for tuberculosis patients, the first such formal program in the United States. He has also served as medical director of the St. Louis Lung Association, president of the medical staff at Jewish Hospital, a member of the St. Louis Lung Physicians to combat air pollution, and continues to serve on the Medical School’s National Council.

Dr. Flance has authored publications relating to the fields of pulmonary disease and home care, and he holds memberships in several medical and scientific societies. He was the Department of Medicine Teacher of the Year in 1981 and Alumni Founders Day Honoree in 1986. He received an alumni/faculty award from the Medical Center’s Alumni Foundation in 1990, and was honored with a Distinguished Alumni Scholarship in his name in 1992 and the University’s Second Century Award in 1994. In recognition of his achievements, the Rosemary and I.J. Flance Professorship of Pulmonary Medicine was established in 1997. Since retiring from clinical practice in 1998, he has continued his work in community health as the Medical Center’s representative for the redevelopment of the Forest Park Southeast community. In recognition of his career accomplishments, in 2002 he received the highest honor from the University—an honorary degree for a doctorate of humanities.

Dr. Flance was an invaluable contributor to the division and to other programs at the School of Medicine. His passing will leave a significant void in our academic community, and he will be sorely missed by his friends and colleagues here and all over the world.

Dr. Flance is survived by his wife, Rosemary; his daughter and son-in-law, Patty and Jack Croughan, and his son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Kristen Flance.

Schuster lectureship

Daniel Schuster, MD was an educator, researcher, and physician at Washington University for more than 25 years. He was renowned locally and nationally in the field of critical care medicine. His expertise was specially honored when he became the first recipient of the Virginia E. and Sam J. Golman Chair in Respiratory Intensive Care Medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Dr. Schuster was born in South Bend, Indiana, and earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Michigan in 1972 and a medical degree from Yale University in 1976. After serving his internship and residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Dr. Schuster was named outstanding fellow in the Critical Care Medicine Training Program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Dr. Schuster began his career at Washington University School of Medicine in 1981. He became a Professor in Medicine and Radiology in 1996, based on his pioneering research and international stature in lung imaging. His work in this field led to over 180 scholarly publications. Dr. Schuster was also an outstanding critical care physician, serving as Director of the Critical Care Program and being named to Best Doctors in America. He also cared deeply about faculty affairs, eventually being elected to Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council.

Dr. Schuster was an extremely innovative and creative thinker. He served as Associate Dean for Clinical Research for nine years. During this time, he initiated innovative programs that continue to have a major impact on the School of Medicine. His vision and development of a Center for Clinical Studies continues to allow faculty to conduct clinical trials and remains as an important component of our clinical research program. Dan also began a program for a Masters of Science in Clinical Investigation that continues to be a central mechanism for the training of clinical investigators. He also developed and edited an outstanding new textbook, Translational and Experimental Clinical Research for further education in this area.