The Robert L. Mayock and David A. Cooper Professorship of Pulmonary Medicine
A dedicated group of friends, colleagues, family members, and former patients, as well as a generous challenge grant from the Benjamin and Mary Siddons Measey Foundation, established the Robert L. Mayock and David A. Cooper Professorship in Pulmonary Medicine in 1997. The Professorship ensures that a worthy and dedicated academic pulmonary specialist with proficiencies in clinical practice, teaching, research, and education will follow in the tradition of Robert L. Mayock, MD, Perelman School of Medicine Class of 1942, and David A. Cooper, MD, Perelman School of Medicine Class of 1921. The proceeds from the Professorship will enable the recipient to perform research in pulmonary disease, to teach, and to be available not only to patients, but to physicians training in the University of Pennsylvania community and in the broader community as well.
Dr. Mayock (d. 2006) was known as the “Father of Pulmonary Medicine at Penn.” He founded the Division of Pulmonary Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in 1955 as one of the first in the nation. He also established one of the first fellowships in the field. Dr. Mayock was a revered teacher who emphasized both cutting-edge medicine and the personal qualities of a good physician. He trained many leaders in the field, including John Hansen-Flaschen, MD, the Paul F. Harron, Jr. Family Professor.
Dr. Cooper (d. 1970) served on the faculty of the School for 40 years, becoming Professor Emeritus of Medicine in 1966. A noted Philadelphia physician, as well as personal physician and friend to Mr. Measey, Dr. Cooper became Chairman of the Measey Foundation Board of Managers in 1967. It was largely through earlier discussions between Dr. Cooper and Mr. Measey that the charitable purposes of the Foundation were developed. The Foundation made a substantial contribution to the Mayock-Cooper Professorship in recognition of Dr. Cooper’s leadership.
Current Chairholder
Michael F. Beers, MD
Michael F. Beers, MD holds a joint appointment as Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine and Senior Investigator in the Penn-CHOP Lung Biology Institute, while also serving as Director of Basic Research Training in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division at Penn Medicine.
Dr. Beers joined the faculty at the Perelman School of Medicine in 1993. While holding continuous extramural research funding for over 25 years, Dr. Beers has built a career of basic, preclinical, and translational studies focused on understanding the role of the lung epithelium in health and disease. In contributing more than 120 peer-reviewed papers to the field, his lab remains dedicated to improving lung health in both adult and pediatric patient populations.
As a native Philadelphian and graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Beers completed Medical School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1985. His post-graduate training has included an Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine, and a Fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with postdoctoral research training in the laboratory of Dr. Aron Fisher at the Institute for Environmental Medicine at Penn. Dr. Beers is a Fellow of the American Physiological Society.
Previous Chairholders
- Reynold A. Panettieri, Jr., MD 2001–2015