IRVING J. SHERMAN, A&S 1936, Med 1940, completed his surgery and neurosurgery residencies at Hopkins, the latter under the legendary neurosurgeon Walter E. Dandy. After graduating in 1943, Dr. Sherman entered the Army Medical Corps as a neurosurgeon in the European Theater. After the war, he set up a private practice in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and in 1975 established the first neurosciences unit in the state of Connecticut at Bridgeport Hospital, where he served as chief of neurosurgery. Dr. Sherman received the School of Medicine’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1995 and the university’s Heritage Award in 1999. He passed in 2019. Throughout their marriage, FLORENCE SHERMAN had an active role in the career of her husband, working as a nurse, registered radiology technician, and as office manager for Dr. Sherman’s seven-member neurosurgeon group.
Irving J. Sherman, M.D. Research Professorship in Neurosurgery
School of Medicine
Established in 2002 by Florence Sherman in honor of her husband, Irving J. Sherman MD
Held by Gregory J. Riggins
GREGORY J. RIGGINS, the inaugural Irving J. Sherman, M.D. Research Professor in Neurosurgery, trained at Johns Hopkins as a postdoctoral fellow with Drs. Bert Vogelstein and Kenneth Kinzler. In 1997 he was recruited to Duke to head their brain tumor molecular genetics program. He joined the Hopkins faculty in 2003 in the departments of Neurosurgery, Oncology, and the McKusick/Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine to continue his work using genomics to find genes related to brain neoplasia, the brain, and other organs. The goal of his laboratory is to help uncover the genes involved in the key functions of brain malignancies. A highly regarded molecular geneticist, Dr. Riggins is known nationally and internationally for his work with the Cancer Genome Anatomy Project.