Pediatric surgery pioneer, Dr. Randolph

• Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics

Judson G. Randolph, M.D., FAAP, of Macon, Ga., died May 17 at age 87. He was the first pediatric surgeon to represent the specialty as a director of the American Board of Surgery.

Dr. Randolph

Dr. Randolph was part of the inaugural group of pediatric surgeons to receive a certificate of special competence in pediatric surgery, before the pediatric surgery subspecialty existed.

He was a past chair of the AAP Section on Surgery, president of the American Pediatric Surgical Association (1984-’85) and the Washington (D.C.) Academy of Surgery. He was awarded the 1998 William E. Ladd Medal from the AAP Section on Surgery for outstanding contributions.

Dr. Randolph joined Children’s National Medical Center in 1963, where he was surgeon-in-chief for nearly 30 years. There, he grew the pediatric surgery department and established the heart and burn units. He was professor of surgery at George Washington University and a consulting surgeon at the National Institutes of Health and Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

After serving in the Navy on the USS Alabama from 1945-’46, he earned his medical degree from Vanderbilt Medical School in 1953. He completed his internship at University of Rochester followed by surgical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and pediatric surgical residency at Boston Children’s Hospital.

He is survived by his five children and eight grandchildren. His wife, Comfort Adams Randolph, died in 2001.

In his AAP Oral History, he said, “I can’t imagine that there’s any more satisfaction in this world than operating on a child who has a life-threatening circumstance and bringing that child through to a successful conclusion and then stepping back and watching that child grow and become a young adult and a contributing member of society.” Read more at http://bit.ly/1FDeNlg.