The Fairhill Professorship

Fairhill ProfessorshipThe Professorship was established in 1997 by the bequest of Isaac Norris, IV (b. 1865), an 1888 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and a scion of the prominent Norris family. The Fairhill professorship commemorates Fairhill Mansion in Radnor Township, which he built and named after the original Norris family estate located in what is now the Fairhill district of Philadelphia.

The Norris family is renowned for accomplishments in science, medicine, and civic leadership. Isaac Norris (1671–1735) was a successful merchant and the first mayor of Philadelphia; his son Isaac Norris, II (1701–1766) was Speaker of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly from 1751 to 1764.

Among the family’s many contributions to Penn and the Perelman School of Medicine was the service of Isaac Norris, II as a University Trustee. Nearly 200 years later, William Fisher Norris, MD (1838–1901), a graduate of the Perelman School of Medicine Class of 1861, co-founded the Department of Ophthalmology and is honored with an endowed professorship that bears his name.

 

Louis J. SoslowskyCurrent Chairholder
Louis J. Soslowsky, PhD

In 1997, Louis J. Soslowsky, PhD was recruited to the Perelman School of Medicine where he is the Fairhill Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. He is also Professor of Bioengineering, Founding Director of the Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders, and Associate Dean for Research Integration. He directed the McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory at Penn for 18 years.

Dr. Soslowsky is a bioengineer who seeks to understand and uncover etiologic factors and pathologic mechanisms driving injury, healing, repair, and regeneration of tendons and ligaments and to use this information to develop and evaluate potential treatment modalities. He has made major advances in understanding the injury process involved in various tendons, as well as in designing targeted treatment modalities for these conditions. He has developed innovative model systems that have become the standard for such studies worldwide.

Previous Chairholders

  • Raymond J. Carroll, PhD 1998–2000
  • Robert L. Barchi, MD, PhD 2004