With a leadership gift to The University of Texas at Dallas’ Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology, a local doctor and his wife hope to encourage students to focus on the human side of medicine.
Dr. Marvin Stone, chief emeritus of hematology and oncology at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and a clinical professor in the UT Dallas School of Arts and Humanities, along with his wife, Kathy, have created the Marvin and Kathleen Stone Distinguished Professorship of Humanities in Medicine and Science and the Marvin and Kathleen Stone Scholarship/Fellowship. The endowments are intended to grow the impact of the Center for Values as it relates to how values, culture and humanities interact with medicine and science.
“Medical students and physicians tend not to have enough humanities in their education, but I believe the art of medicine is just as important as the science of medicine,” said Stone, “so I’ve been interested in trying to further humanities in medicine, in medical school and at the University.”
The professorship will support a tenured professor who focuses on the intersection of values and the humanities with medicine and science. Likewise, the scholarship fund will assist students with similar interests.
The Center for Values, which is part of the School of Arts and Humanities, is focused on recognizing the ways that ethics, values and culture interact with medicine, science and technology, with the goal of pursuing relevant research.
“Medical students and physicians tend not to have enough humanities in their education, but I believe the art of medicine is just as important as the science of medicine, so I’ve been interested in trying to further humanities in medicine, in medical school and at the University.”
Dr. Marvin Stone, clinical professor in the School of Arts and Humanities
Dr. Matthew Brown, professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Values, said the gift will raise the profile of the center while increasing its opportunity for research.
“It represents an endorsement from prominent members of the community of the work the center has been doing,” he said. “We expect that it will expand the range of research work we do on values in medicine and science.”
Dr. Nils Roemer, interim dean of the School of Arts and Humanities and the Stan and Barbara Rabin Professor in Holocaust Studies, said the Stones’ gift exemplifies how a family can make a positive, long-term impact on society.
“Marvin and Kathy Stone are passionate about training doctors and scientists to consider the human and ethical aspects of medicine and science,” he said. “Years from now, I expect that thousands of students will be looking at their professions in new ways because of the education they received and the research they did at UT Dallas.”
For years, Marvin Stone has been active in the American Osler Society, which promotes the legacy of Sir William Osler, a clinician-educator and a humanist who was one of the most influential and beloved physicians during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition, as a clinical professor at UT Dallas, Stone has for the last eight years co-taught a class on medical humanities to undergraduate honor students, along with Dr. Dennis Kratz, director of the Center for Asian Studies, associate provost, and the Ignacy and Celina Rockover Professor.
“Marvin and Kathy Stone are passionate about training doctors and scientists to consider the human and ethical aspects of medicine and science. Years from now, I expect that thousands of students will be looking at their professions in new ways because of the education they received and the research they did at UT Dallas.”
Dr. Nils Roemer, interim dean of the School of Arts and Humanities
“Coming up through college and medical school, there seemed to be a skewed emphasis on science at the expense of humanities. I didn’t think it was balanced appropriately — with enough attention to the humane aspect of medicine and illness. That’s why I am so interested in this topic,” Stone said.
After earning his MD with honors from the University of Chicago in 1963 and postgraduate training at Barnes Hospital and the National Institutes of Health, Stone came to Dallas’ Parkland Memorial Hospital in 1968 as a senior resident in medicine. He was on the faculty at UT Southwestern Medical Center for years and later served as the first chief of oncology and director of the Baylor’s Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center. He is a past president of the American Osler Society and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the society in 2015.
Stone also has written a book on the science and art of medicine, called When to Act and When to Refrain.
Since 2018, four students have been awarded scholarships made possible by the Stones. Through the new Marvin and Kathleen Stone Scholarship/Fellowship endowment, support will continue the scholarships in perpetuity.
“These scholarships are meaningful because the study of the humanities is an important constituent of higher education,” Marvin Stone said. “Kathy and I believe the art is as essential to medicine as the science.”