"The purpose of life is to matter-to count, to stand for something, to have it make a difference that we lived at all."-Leo Rosten.

Otolaryngology has lost a great leader and educator who made a great difference in the lives of all otolaryngologists. George Farrell Reed, MD, passed away on November 25, 1994, after a short illness. He was born in Oswego, New York, on October 25,1922, received his formal education in the central New York area, earning his AB from Colgate University in 1944 and then his MD degree from the Syracuse University College of Medicine in 1946. After completing a 1-year internship in the Syracuse University Medical Center Hospital, he received his postgraduate training in Boston at the Harvard Department of Otolaryngology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Following the completion of this formal residency training in otolaryngology in 1952, he remained on the full-time faculty at Harvard for 9 years, reaching the rank of Clinical Associate. In 1961 he entered private practice, forming one of the most prominent group practices in the Boston area. In 1965 he left Boston to assume the chairmanship of the first full-time Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences at the Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, New York.

After 10 years as Chairman, he became Dean of the Medical School and Executive Vice President of the State University of New York Upstate Medical Center, an office which he held for 10 years. Along with the duties of a deanship, he was also Acting President of the Medical Center for two separate 1-year terms in 1979 and then 1984. During his tenure as Dean, the Medical Center's association with the central New York community flourished, and outstanding faculty were recruited from institutions in Boston, Baltimore, Minnesota, and Philadelphia. After he stepped down as Dean in 1986, he remained in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery as a professor actively involved in the teaching of residents and medical students.

During these important years in his academic career as an educator, he was involved nationally in many of our major otolaryngological and national medical societies. These included the American Medical Association, where he was Vice-Chairman of the Section Council on Otolaryngology, the American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery as a member of the Board of Directors, and the American College of Surgeons, where he chaired the State and Provincial Advisory Committee. He was President of the American Society of Head and Neck Surgery, the Society of University Otolaryngologists, the American Council of Otolaryngology, and the Onondaga County Medical Society. He was a member of the American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc, the American Laryngological Association, and the American Broncho-Esophagological Association. He was a member of 16 medical societies and served as an officer or on committees dealing with continuing education in virtually all of them.

Of singular importance to George Reed was the American Board of Otolaryngology, with which he was associated for 38 years. He was a member of the Board of Directors for 30 years and a Senior Counselor for 8 years. He was President of the ABO from 1976 to 1980 and Secretary-Treasurer and Executive Vice President from 1982 to 1986. It is noteworthy that these activities in scientific and educational societies were conducted along with his duties as Dean and Acting President of the Medical Center. He was a unique leader and educator who could wear many hats at the same time.

During his career he authored or coauthored 40 publications dealing with head and neck surgery, with a singular contribution concerning the introduction of dermal grafts in head and neck surgery for protection of the great vessels in the neck and closure of pharyngeal defects.

George Reed's unique ability as a communicator was facilitated by his sense of humor and directness. His great success in education and the development of academic leaders is a testament to his dedication and ability to communicate and lead. These talents were remarkably manifest in his ability to conduct a faculty or committee meeting. The agenda, while conducted in an air of humor, was always under his firm, wise guidance. He was a master administrator and educator.

George Reed is survived by his wife, Jane; his four daughters, Sally Reed Gonzalez, Lucy Reed, Nancy Reed Dann, and Margaret Reed; and four grandchildren.

The specialty of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, citizens of central New York State, and friends and colleagues of George F. Reed, MD, have suffered an immense loss.