President: 1964-1965
Distinguished Service Award: 1974

1905-1984

BARNES WOODHALL was born on January 22, 1905, in Rockport, Maine, the son of Charles Henry and Florence Barnes Woodhall. He was graduated from Williams College (A.B., 1926) and Johns Hopkins University (M.D., 1930). Both his internship and residency were served at Johns Hopkins Hospital under Dr. Walter Dandy.

He joined the faculty of the Duke University School of Medicine during its first decade of existence (1937); and assumed responsibility for organization of a neurological surgery service. He was Chairman of that division until 1960, when he was appointed Dean of the School of Medicine. He was simultaneously named Vice-Provost, responsible for the Medical Center, a title he continued to hold after relinquishing the deanship in 1964. In 1967, he was promoted to Associate Provost. In March of 1969, he was made Chancellor pro tem and James B. Duke Professor Neurosurgery, posts he retained until his retirement, when he became Professor Emeritus.

During World War II, Dr. Woodhall was a lieutenant colonel in the Army Medical Corps, serving as Chief of Neurosurgery at Walter Reed General Hospital. He was awarded the Legion of Merit.

He was the co-author of three textbooks on peripheral nerve injuries and regeneration, and author of over 150 papers on a variety of medical subjects. He served as a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Neurosurgery (Chairman, 1963).

Dr. Woodhall was a unique and talented leader in neurosurgery in academic medicine, and in undergraduate education. It was at his insistence that the pro tem was attached to his position of Chancellor at Duke. He did not seek the leadership position, but he lead the university through troubled times successfully.

Dr. Woodhall was active in a number of professional societies, serving many as an officer, including: Harvey Cushing Society, (President); American Academy of Neurological Surgery (President); Southern Neurosurgical Society (President); and the International Congress of Neurological Surgery (Treasurer). He held many other professional memberships, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa; Alpha Omega Alpha; Sigma Xi; National Library of Medicine Board of Regents, 1964-68,(Chairman, 1968); Society of Scholars, Johns Hopkins Charter Member, 1969; and International Congress of Neurological Surgery (Special Lecturer, 1969).

His research interests were focused on brain tumor chemotherapy and bioenergetics, but in his retirement he also expressed interest in "duck shooting, graduate students, grandchildren, Medicare and Social Security benefits, peace, and equanimity."

Dr. Woodhall and his wife Frances had two children: a son, Colman Barnes Woodhall, and a daughter, Elizabeth Woodhall Rackley.