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Lewis Dexter, M.D.
1910 - 1995
Dr. Lewis Dexter was an outstanding cardiovascular physiologist and clinician, a respected teacher and scientist, and, most importantly, a fine human being. During his life, he brought the cardiac catheter from the laboratory to the patient and trained several generations of cardiologists. Dexter's laboratory was the first to elucidate the pathophysiologic alterations present in many forms of congenital heart disease, including atrial septal defects, patent ductus arteriosus, tetralogy of Fallot, ventricular septal defects, and pulmonic stenosis. Subsequent work in Dexter's laboratory led to the 1st measurements of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure and to the precise calculation of stenotic valve areas from hemodynamic parameters measured during cardiac catheterization.
During a teaching exercise, Dexter demonstrated that exercise with a cardiac catheter in the heart was safe and produced clinically important data, by having a cardiac catheter inserted in himself. Over the years, many significant pathophysiologic studies that explored pulmonary embolism, valvular heart disease, right and left ventricular function, and pulmonary hypertension were published from Dexter's laboratory. But Lewis Dexter was more than a brilliant researcher. “Lew” was very close to his fellows and students, whom he considered extensions of his family. Dexter was a remarkable teacher, a compassionate physician, and a scrupulously honest investigator. Dr. Lewis Dexter had a major impact on modern medicine and was one of the great cardiologists of the 20th century.
Lewis Dexter was born and reared in Concord, Massachusetts. His father was an Episcopal priest who served congregations in New Bedford and Concord. Dexter completed his secondary schooling at Concord High School and The Choate School. After graduating cum laude from both Harvard College (1932) and Harvard Medical School (1936), he fulfilled a 2-year residency at Presbyterian Hospital in New York. He then returned to Boston and studied as a fellow with Dr. Soma Weiss at Boston City Hospital.
Dexter was a member of the Association of American Physicians, American College of Physicians, American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Association of University Cardiologists, American Clinical and Climatological Association, and the British, Mexican, Peruvian, and Argentine cardiac societies.
For his contributions to academic, clinical, and scientific medicine, Dr. Dexter was recognized on numerous occasions. He was officially awarded the James B. Herrick Award and the Research Achievement Award of the American Heart Association, the Paul Dudley White Award of the Massachusetts Affiliate of the American Heart Association, the College Medal of the American College of Chest Physicians, and an honorary doctor of science degree from the University of Massachusetts. Whenever Dexter received these prestigious awards, he accepted them with humility.