SPRING 2013 35
James Hunter, MD ’53 Renowned Hand Surgeon James M. Hunter, MD ’53, distinguished professor of orthopaedic surgery at JMC, died of heart failure Jan. 29, 2013, at age 88. Hunter worked at Jefferson for about 50 years, focusing on surgery of the hand and upper extremity as well as the previously untapped science and practice of hand therapy. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he developed the first artificial tendon for use in reconstructing hands. The device, the Hunter Tendon Prosthesis, is named for him. He was awarded the first fellowship in hand surgery by Columbia University in 1959 and was instrumental in the creation of the “bible” of hand surgery and therapy, Rehabilitation of the Hand and Upper Extremity, now in its sixth edition. Hunter was a founding member of the Hand Rehabilitation Foundation of Philadelphia and the “Philadelphia Meeting,” where hand surgeons from around the world gathered and under which Hunter mentored some 150 fellows in hand surgery and 8,000 hand surgeons and therapists. In 1995, the Congresses of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand bestowed its highest honor on Hunter, naming him one of its “pioneers of hand surgery” at the Sixth International Congress Helsinki, Finland. His longtime friend and colleague, Phillip Marone, MD ’57, MS ’07, said Hunter helped train him at Jefferson in the 1950s. Marone, associate dean of alumni relations at Jefferson, remembers Hunter as “the ultimate physician, clinician, educator and researcher.” “I miss him as a teacher, mentor and colleague and a great person,” Marone said. “He was the nicest person you would ever run into.” Hunter was an avid sailor and a musician. He played the upright bass with jazz artists around Philadelphia and was in a jazz band known as the Red Peppers, featuring other area physicians. He also played the tuba. He is survived by his wife, Margaret; two sons, Gary and Jeffrey; a daughter, Kimberly; three grandchildren; and a sister. He was predeceased by his first wife, Carolyn.