Library
APS Bulletin • Volume 11, Number 4, July/August 2001
In Memoriam
William “Will” Herbert Sweet
February 13, 1910January 22, 2001
Anne Louise Oaklander, MD PhD
William H. Sweet, MD, a pioneer in neurosurgical research and treatments for pain, died of complications of Parkinson’s Disease at his Boston home. Dr. Sweet was the third president of the American Pain Society (1981–1982) and received the F.W.L. Kerr Basic Science Research Award in 1990.
Dr. Sweet graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Washington in 1930. While at Harvard Medical School, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and spent 2 years at Oxford University. These left him with a prominent life-long Anglophilia, which is fondly remembered by his colleagues. He completed residency training in neurology and neurosurgery at Billings Hospital and a Rhodes Research Fellowship in 1939 at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in London.
After serving in World War II, Dr. Sweet devoted more than 60 years of service to the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he held numerous positions culminating in his tenure as chief of neurosurgical service from 1961–1977. He made many important contributions to clinical care and basic science, helping patients with chronic pain, cerebrovascular disorders, epilepsy, and brain tumors. He was one of the first neurosurgeons to stress the significance of research in academic neurosurgery.
Dr. Sweet’s best known contributions involved the development of proton beam and neutron capture therapy for precise treatment of brain tumors and the establishment of one of the first brain imaging laboratories. He pioneered the development of invasive treatments of trigeminal neuralgia and developed the use of cordotomy for the treatment of intractable pain in patients with limited life expectancy. His work in the 1950s laid the foundations for the development of spinal cord and nerve stimulators used today to treat severe pain. Many of his techniques and skills were passed on to his trainees, who currently use his knowledge and techniques to treat their patients.
Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Sweet received many of the highest awards and honors given in the field of neurosurgery, including the Cushing Medal of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Distinguished Service Award of the Society of Neurological Surgeons, and an Honored Guest of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. In 1945, he received His Majesty King George VI’s Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom for recognition of outstanding service to the British Emergency Medical Service during WWII. He also was honored with His Majesty the Emperor of Japan’s conferral of the Order of the Rising Sun in 1983, in recognition of remarkable contributions to the development of neurosurgery in Japan.
Dr. Sweet was an active participant in major national and international neuroscientific organizations. He was a Permanent Honorary President of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies, as well as past president of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery, Boston Society of Psychiatry and Neurology, Eastern Pain Association, New England Neurosurgical Society, New England Pain Association, and the Society of Neurological Surgeons. He served on Study Sections and Advisory Committees of the National Institutes of Health, and was a member of the Scientific and Technology Advisory Committee of NASA’s Office of Manned Space Flight. Dr. Sweet was also a Trustee of The Neurosciences Institute (San Diego) and Honorary Trustee of Associated Universities, Inc.
Dr. Sweet is survived by his wife Elizabeth (Dutton), three children, and eight grandchildren.
To honor Dr. Sweet’s memory, and to educate young physicians about neurosurgical treatment options, the Massachusetts General Hospital with the support of Medtronic, Inc. has established an annual William H. Sweet lectureship on Functional Neurosurgery and Pain. The inaugural lecture will be delivered at the MGH this fall by John D. Loeser, MD, of the University of Washington in Seattle. Memorial gifts may be made to the Sweet Professorship, Harvard Medical School.
