Virginia Kneeland Frantz

Virginia Kneeland Franz, pathologist and educator

Dr. Virginia Kneeland Frantz (1896 - 1967) was a pathologist and educator credited with a series of discoveries in the study of thyroid, breast and pancreatic tumors. From 1924 to 1962 she taught surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, becoming a full professor in 1951.

Her major achievements include:

• In 1922, New York Presbyterian Hospital, first woman surgery intern
• In 1935, she and Allen O. Whipple described the insulin secretion of pancreatic tumors.
• In 1959, she wrote a study on tumors of the pancreas which became the standard text in the field^[1]
• In 1961 she became the first female president of the American Thyroid Society.

Awards and Honors

• Army-Navy Certificate of Appreciation for Civilian Service, 1948
• Janeway Medal, 1962
• Columbia University, Bicentennial Silver Medal, 1967
• Student of Arthur Purdy Stout, noted alumnae of Brearley School, Columbia named award after her and presented to Rita Charon
• Virginia Kneeland Franz Society

Select Publications

• Franz, V. K., Forsythe, R., Hanford, J. M., & Rogers, W. M. (1942). Lateral aberrant thyroid. Ann. Surg, 115, 161-183.
• Franz, M.D., Virginia Kneeland & Harvey, M.D., Harold Doric. (1946). Introduction to Surgery. New York and London: Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press.
• Franz, V. (1959). Papillary tumors of the pancreas: benign or malignant. Frantz VK. Atlas of tumor pathology. Washington DC: US Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 32-3.

References

1. Franz, V. (1959). Papillary tumors of the pancreas: benign or malignant. Frantz, V.K. Atlas of tumor pathology. Washington DC: US Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 32-3.

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