John Martin Wheeler

Background

John Martin Wheeler was born on November 10, 1879 in Burlington, Vt. A member of a distinguished New England family of English colonial descent, he was the third of five children (all boys) of Henry Orson and Elizabeth Lavinia (Martin) Wheeler. His father, who served in the Union Army during the Civil War, was a lawyer and for thirty-three years superintendent of schools in Burlington.

Education

Young Wheeler was educated in local public schools and at the University of Vermont, where he received the degrees of B. A. (1902), M. D. (1905), and M. Sc. (1906).

Career

While in college he contributed to his support by working in an automobile factory, selling maps, and giving music lessons. He was instructor in anatomy in the medical school of his alma mater in 1906 and 1907. Becoming interested in ophthalmology, Wheeler next began a long association with the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, serving as intern (1907 - 08), then joining the staff as assistant surgeon, and eventually becoming attending surgeon in 1919. In 1925 he took on the additional duty of head of the ophthalmic service at Bellevue Hospital, which he retained until 1928, when he resigned to accept a similar post at the Presbyterian Hospital. During these years Wheeler was also consulting ophthalmologist to a number of other hospitals. This wide clinical experience contributed to his notable skill as a diagnostician and surgeon. He also built up an extensive private practice, his most widely known patient, perhaps, being King Prajadhipok of Siam, on whom he performed a successful cataract operation in 1931. Teaching was one of Wheeler's greatest interests. He was instructor in ophthalmology at Cornell University Medical College from 1911 to 1915 and professor of ophthalmology at the New York University College of Medicine from 1921 to 1928, when he resigned to accept a similar position at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. Especially interested in postgraduate instruction, he gave courses on surgery for many years at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary that attracted students from far afield. Wheeler's ability and industry (at the Presbyterian Hospital he was credited with attending more patients than any other member of the medical or surgical staff) impressed Edward S. Harkness, the principal benefactor of the new Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, and in 1931 Harkness asked Wheeler to plan and be director of an Institute of Ophthalmology to be affiliated with the Center. The appointment perfectly suited Wheeler's interest in postgraduate teaching, and he willingly gave up his extensive private practice to accept the new post. He was director of the "Eye Institute, " as it became known, from its opening in 1933 until his death. In 1935 a malignancy in his own left eye necessitated its removal, but he was able to resume operating with his customary exquisite dexterity. Wheeler's surgical skill extended to the field of plastic surgery. This was largely the result of his experience in the first World War. A captain (later major) in the Army Medical Corps, he was placed in charge of the ophthalmic service at Fort McHenry, Md. , where he was confronted with many unusual problems of reconstructive surgery on disabled veterans involving the eye and related structures. He died of a heart attack, at the age of fifty-eight, at his summer home in Underhill Center, Vt. , and was buried in Burlington.

Achievements

• His thorough knowledge of anatomy, combined with his dexterity and his ingenuity in devising new techniques to minimize disfigurement, soon earned him a national reputation. In addition to serving as president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology (1934), he was president of the Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (1934 - 35) and a founder of the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Wheeler was also a director of the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness and received its Leslie Dana Medal in 1936. His presidential address as head of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology was devoted to setting forth the physician's role as sympathetic counselor to his blind patients.

Works

More photos

• book

  • THE COLLECTED PAPERS OF JOHN MARTIN WHEELER M.D.

    (Prepared for publication by the staff of the Institute of...)

  • The Collected Papers of John Martin Wheeler M.D.on Ophthalmic Subjects

Personality

Wheeler was a modest and taciturn man whose greatest interests were his work and his family.

Connections

He had married Julia Warren Smith of Burlington on May 15, 1912. They had four children: Martha, Charles Smith, Edward Martin, and Ann.

Father:

Henry Orson Wheeler

Mother:

Elizabeth Lavinia (Martin) Wheeler

Spouse:

Julia Warren Smith

Daughter:

Martha

Daughter:

Ann

Son:

Charles Smith

Son:

Edward Martin