Robert H. Anderson MD, PhD, FRCPath

Robert H. Anderson, known to his friends and colleagues as Bob, was born in the English county of Shropshire, where he received his initial education. Having been accepted to study medicine at the University of Manchester, his initial encounter with anatomy, subsequent to the study as part of the medical curriculum, came when he was offered the opportunity to undertake an intercalated degree. He was fortunate to be allocated the topic of the intrinsic innervation of the heart for his initial research. Having completed his degree in anatomy, he returned to the study of clinical medicine and qualified in 1966. He then returned to the Department of Anatomy, having completed his clinical residency appointments, ostensibly with the intention of becoming an ophthalmologist. Serendipity then intervened, and he was offered the chance to continue his researches on cardiac innervation, concentrating on the conduction tissues.

He is spearheading another programme for fellows in pediatric cardiology. This now results in regular teaching commitments for Bob in Cincinnati, along with similar commitments in Milwaukee, Houston, and Denver. Bob also organises regular Masterclasses in cardiac anatomy in Pittsburgh. Even more recently, he has accepted additional honorary positions in the United Kingdom, specifically at the Wessex Cardiac Center in Southampton, and Birmingham Children’s Hospital. He was particularly thrilled, in 2017, to be elected an honorary fellow of the European Congenital Heart Surgeon’s Association, and in 2018 to be granted an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by the Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal. He is now gratified to be the Honored Member of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists for 2019.