The Neurology Department has been leading the field for more than 100 years, starting in 1888 when William Herdman was appointed professor of Practical Anatomy and Diseases of the Nervous System in the Department of Medicine of the University of Michigan.
Our History – Leaders for More than A Century
In 1888, William Herdman was appointed Professor of Practical Anatomy and Diseases of the Nervous System in the Department of Medicine. Dr. Herdman's title was subsequently changed to Professor of Nervous Diseases and Electrotherapeutics and later to Professor of Diseases of the Mind and Nervous System and Electrotherapeutics.
Following Dr. Herdman, Dr. Albert Barrett was appointed Professor of Psychiatry and Diseases of the Nervous System and director of the Psychopathic Hospital, with Dr. Carl D. Camp appointed as Clinical Professor of Diseases of the Nervous System. Neurology and Psychiatry were administratively combined in a Department of Diseases of the Mind and Nervous System. The Department of Medicine became the School of Medicine in 1915. In 1920, the Board of Regents dissolved the Department of Diseases of the Mind and Nervous System, and created separate departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, appointing Dr. Camp as Professor of Neurology.
Russell N. DeJong joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 1936 after training at UM. In 1950, Dr. Camp retired, with Dr. DeJong appointed as his successor. Dr. DeJong expanded the department significantly and was a national leader in the development of Neurology as a major specialty. In 1953, the Ann Arbor Veterans Administration Hospital was completed. In the late 1950s, the University of Michigan was awarded one of the first Neurology training grants by the newly formed National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness. Under Dr DeJong, UM Neurology trained many academic pioneers.
In 1977, Dr. Sid Gilman was recruited from Columbia to replace Dr. DeJong as Chair. He was very successful in leading our program to national recognition for subspecialty clinical services and major research centers. Under his direction, our residency pioneered strong exposure to ambulatory neurology. He trained 13 future national Chairs of Neurology. He stepped down in 2004, after 27 years leading the department to national research, clinical, and educational prominence.
Dr. Gilman was succeeded by Dr. David Fink, who served on the faculty at Michigan at the beginning of his career and then moved on to the University of Pittsburgh. He was recruited back as the Robert W. Brear Professor and Chair in 2004. He served as Chair for the subsequent 15 years. Under his leadership, the faculty grew to over 90 clinicians and scientists, clinical volume increased to over 50,000 patients per year, and he continued robust development of substantial research programs.
In May of 2020, Dr. Dawn Kleindorfer, a former Resident in Neurology under Dr. Gilman, was recruited from the University of Cincinnati to succeed Dr. Fink as Chair. Despite the obstacles imposed by the COVID pandemic, Dr. Kleindorfer is leading further expansion of the department’s clinical and research programs, recruiting 40 distinguished faculty in her first 3.5 years as Chair.
University of Michigan Neurology National Leaders
President – American Neurologic Association
- Russell DeJong
- Sid Gilman
- Anne Young
- Eva Feldman
President – American University Professors of Neurology
- David Fink
President – Society for Neuroscience
- Anne Young
Michigan Neurology Alumni Chairs
- Anne Young, former Chief of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital
- Robert Macdonald, former Chair of Neurology at Vanderbilt
- L. Cass Terry, former Chair of Neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin
- Steven Levine, former Chair of SUNY Downstate
- Safwan Jaradeh, former Chair of the Medical College of Wisconsin
- Ivo Drury, former Chair of Neurology at Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit
- Gretchen Tietjen, former Chair of Neurology, University of Toledo College of Medicine
- David Fink, former Chair of Neurology, University of Michigan
- L. John Greenfield, Chair of Neurology at the University of Connecticut
- Jonathan Edwards, Chair of the Medical University of South Carolina
- Brett Kissela, Chair of Neurology at University of Cincinnati
- Gordon Smith, Chair of Neurology at Virginia Commonwealth University
- Dawn Kleindorfer, Chair of Neurology at the University Michigan
- Dr Page Pennell, Chair of Neurology at the University of Pittsburgh
