Collection OH043 - Robert C. Drews, Miles C. Whitener, and August W. Geise Oral History

Robert C. Drews was an ophthalmologist, photographer, inventor of numerous medical instruments for the eye, and former member of the Washington University Board of Trustees. He had a nearly lifelong connection to Washington University, graduating from the College of Arts & Sciences in 1951 and the School of Medicine in 1955. The long association between Drews and the university included his residency in ophthalmology from 1956 to 1959, during which he served as chief resident in 1958-59. After residency, he had a two-year stint in the Navy, serving at the U.S. Naval Hospital, Great Lakes, before returning to St. Louis to go into private practice and teach in the Department of Ophthalmology.

Drews was a member of Washington University's Board of Trustees from 1988 to 1992. He also chaired the university's Alumni Board of Governors, the Medical Alumni Annual Fund and other giving programs. Additionally, he served on the National Council for the School of Medicine, Planned Giving Committee, School of Medicine Scholarship Initiative and the Eliot Society. He authored more than 500 journal articles, book chapters and books, and he served as editor or as an editorial board member of several leading ophthalmology journals. He also was an accomplished photographer whose ophthalmologic slides and videotaped surgical procedures are regarded as valuable teaching and research resources.

Miles Clark Whitener graduated from Washington University School of Medicine in 1955. He served in the U.S. Navy as a doctor on an LST in the Pacific. He practiced internal medicine in Overland, MO for over 25 years, then served as Vice President of Medical Affairs of Missouri Baptist Hospital until his retirement.

August W. Geise (1930-1997), neurosurgeon, received his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine in 1956.