[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 25, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E62]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E62]]
    HONORING RICHARD W. VILTER, M.D. AS A GREAT LIVING CINCINNATIAN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ROB PORTMAN

                                of Ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 25, 2005

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Richard W. Vilter, 
M.D., a leader in our medical community, who will be formally honored 
as a Great Living Cincinnatian on February 24, 2005 by the Greater 
Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. Recipients of this prestigious annual 
award are chosen on the basis of professional achievement, leadership, 
vision, and community service. Past honorees include Neil Armstrong, 
Dr. Albert Sabin, and Charles Scripps.
  A native Cincinnatian, Dr. Vilter has said that not only did he want 
to follow in the footsteps of his father, Dr. William F. Vilter, he 
never considered doing anything else. After graduating from Hughes High 
School in 1929, he earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from 
Harvard. Dr. Vilter promised to join his father in practice when he 
returned to Cincinnati, but, tragically, his father died of leukemia 
before he could do so. Dr. Vilter has said this is what led him to 
pursue his distinguished career in blood diseases.
  After graduating from medical school in 1937, Dr. Vilter earned an 
internship at Cincinnati General Hospital specializing in internal 
medicine. In 1940, he was named senior resident, and later became chief 
medical resident. He went on to hold many leadership positions at 
Cincinnati General, including founding director of the Division of 
Hematology and Assistant Director of the Department of Internal 
Medicine. In 1956, he became the Gordon and Helen Hughes Taylor 
Professor of Medicine and director of the Department of Internal 
Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, positions he held until 1978. 
He still serves as the Gordon and Helen Hughes Taylor Professor 
Emeritus of Medicine, continuing his teaching and consulting work. Dr. 
Vilter has also spread his practice of medicine internationally, acting 
as a consultant for the United Nations' World Health Organization, 
traveling for the Pan American Sanitary Bureau, and serving as chair of 
the National Advisory Committee's Malnutrition Research Center in 
Thailand.
  Dr. Vilter has held leadership positions with many organizations, 
including the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's Medical 
Heritage Library Board; the American College of Physicians/American 
Society of Internal Medicine; American Society of Clinical Nutrition, 
where he was the first president; the American Clinical and 
Climitalogical Association; and the Cincinnati Society of Internal 
Medicine. He received the American College of Physicians Ohio Chapter's 
Laureate Award in 2002; the American Medical Association's Joseph 
Goldberger Award for outstanding contributions in the field of 
nutrition; the National March of Dimes Foundation's Dan Tehan 
Humanitarian Award; the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's 
Daniel Drake Award for major and lasting contributions to the College; 
and the University of Cincinnati Excellence Award.
  In August, 2003, Dr. Vilter lost his beloved wife of 70 years, Sue. 
He lost his son, Richard Jr., in 1990.
  All of us in Cincinnati congratulate Dr. Vilter on being named a 
Great Living Cincinnatian.

                          ____________________