Charles Byron Wilson was an American neurosurgeon.
Education
His college football career having been cut short early because of an ankle injury, Wilson studied medicine, finishing first in his class in 1954. Wilson did a rotating internship and a year in pathology at Charity Hospital, where he was absorbed by the study of neuropathology, neurology, and neuroanatomy. Wilson eventually decided to become a neurosurgeon.
Career
Wilson joined the faculty of Louisiana State University Medical School, where he was assistant professor of neurosurgery from 1961 to 1963. Moving to Lexington, he founded the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Kentucky. There, he became more interested in malignant gliomas and created laboratory and clinical research programs. Wilson was named professor and chairman of the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco in 1968. According to Dr. Susan Chang, director of the division of neuro-oncology at U.C.S.F., “He was a visionary in how he built a multidisciplinary approach to studying brain cancer, linking basic science and clinical research together. He was able to set up an infrastructure to test new therapies on tumors and spare patients the side effects of treatments.” In 1985, Wilson became Tong-Po Kan Professor of Neurosurgery. Wilson was profiled by Malcolm Gladwell for The New Yorker in 1999. In the profile, Gladwell argues that Wilson is an example of “physical genius,” along with Wayne Gretsky, Yo-Yo Ma, Tony Gwynn, and others. Wilson performed over 2,000 transsphenoidal operations. After his death, a New York Times articled described him as “a pioneering and virtuosic San Francisco neurosurgeon who used operating rooms like stages, sometimes performing as many as eight surgeries a day, all while building a leading brain tumorresearch center.”
Accomplishments and awards
Wilson received the Outstanding Clinical Instructor and Outstanding Clinical Professor awards at Kentucky. He was the Wilder Penfield Lecturer, the Herbert Olivecrona Lecturer, and the R. Eustace Semmes Lecturer among others. He published over 500 articles and book chapters and served on several editorial boards, including that of The Journal of Neurosurgery, which he chaired from 1981 to 1983.
Miscellany
Wilson was a pianist and enjoyed running marathons. He co-founded the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance. It provides health care programs in African countries affected by AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. He raised money and determined policy for Clinic by the Bay, an organization that offers free medical services to uninsured people in the San Francisco area. Wilson is survived by his wife, Frances Petrocelli; his daughter, Rebecca Cohn; his son, Byron; a stepdaughter, Kathryn Petrocelli; and six grandchildren.
