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". . . men endowed with highest gifts, The vision and the faculty divine" Wordsworth
When a great man arises at a critical time in history, the direction and acceleration of human endeavor are lastingly changed for the good. Donald M. Pillsbury's formal career is well summarized elsewhere in this issue, but his unique contribution was to insure the growth, even the survival, of academic dermatology.
At the close of World War II three vital forces changed medicine and particularly dermatology. The most obvious was the disappearance of syphilis as a part of private practice and as an important challenge to dermatologic investigation. It seems so evident now, but as recently as 1948, many prominent dermatologists at a meeting of the Academy were irritated because he publicly predicted the future and urged a greater interest in dermatology rather than in syphilology. As always, his comments were constructive; to take the place of syphilology