Mentor
In addition to being an excellent clinician and internationally recognized investigator, Dr. Finland was a superb mentor. He trained more that 100 research fellows in infectious diseases who were dispersed to medical schools throughout the United States and replicated the model they had learned in Boston . . . Max fostered the development and scientific profess of each fellow and monitored their progress and thrilled in the achievement of each.
Jerome O. Klein, M.D.
Professor of Pediatrics
Boston University School of Medicine
31 August 2001
Until my fellowship year I had no idea how well Dr. Finland could write. One night, I left a draft of a paper on Pseudomonas osteomyelitis following internal fixation of femoral fractures. When I got to work the next morning, I found that Dr. Finland had done an amazingly skillful editing job, clarifying parts that were ambiguous and leaving alone parts that were clear. Not only had he edited it, but he had submitted it for publication to a premier medical journal. At that point I understood why he was so prolific, and more fully why had had emerged as the world’s leading expert on infectious diseases and the use of antibiotics.
Steve A. Schroeder M.D.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
5 September 2001
A few more words about these nearly 100 lucky fellows who have worked with Max. Almost all are now professors or associate professors and they include five deans and two vice presidents of universities. Most are or have been in charge of infectious disease units in their own institutions in all parts of this country and in many overseas posts. Although the number of fellows trained by Max is, in itself, most impressive, it must be remembered that now each of these is similarly training another generation of infectious disease fellows in his own institution, and so on, geometrically increasing the pervasive, or should we say invasive, influence of this one man.
Charles Davidson, M.D.
William Bosworth Castle Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Presentation of the George M. Kolber Medal for 1978 to Max Finland
Cal Kunin (was) . . . Dr. Finland’s longest continuous fellow. He served as Max’s loyal Gofer for more than 20 years after leaving the Thorndike in 1959. It took this long to complete the fellowship and gain approval from the boss.
Calvin M. Kunin, M.D.
Emeritus Professor of Medicine
The Ohio State University Medical Center
19 October 2001