George William Morley, M.D. was born in Toledo, Ohio on the 6th of June 1923. In 1941 he came to the University of Michigan as a freshman and over the next 50 years became one of its most outstanding graduates and enthusiastic supporters. As an undergraduate he was Vice President of the Senior class and, after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1945, he worked in medical research for one year before entering the University of Michigan Medical School from which he graduated in 1949. An internship in General Surgery preceded his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology, which was served under Dr. Norman F. Miller. Dr. Morley became a clinical instructor in the Department in 1952, after which he served as a Captain in the Army Medical Corps from 1952-54. During military duty, he received a letter of commendation for emergency tracheotomy care provided to British subjects while on maneuvers in Salzburg, Austria. Returning to the Department in 1956, Dr. Morley has served continuously since that time rising through the academic ranks to achieve full professorship in 1970. He became Chief of the Gynecologic Oncology Service in 1964 and Director of the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship, which he initiated in 1971. In 1987, he was named as the first Norman F. Miller Professor of Gynecology.

Dr. Morley is one of America's most distinguished gynecologic surgeons. Board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1958, and Gynecologic Oncology in 1974, his academic pursuits have spanned the full breadth of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is best known for his work as a surgeon for benign and malignant gynecologic disease. Dr. Morley's bibliography lists over 110 articles and 15 chapters in books. Continuing in the tradition established by Dr. Miller, Dr. Morley authored major contributions on radical hysterectomy and radical vulvectomy. He is best known for his work establishing the role of pelvic exenteration in the treatment of recurrent cancer of the cervix. This series has the highest five-year survival reported in the literature and remains a landmark of success in treating recurrent pelvic neoplasm.

Dr. Morley has provided outstanding leadership both at Michigan and in many prominent national organizations. He has served with distinction in over 30 professional societies and has been elected President of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Society of Pelvic Surgeons, Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, Society of Gynecologic Surgeons, and Norman F. Miller Gynecologic Society and has also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the American College of Surgeons. He has three times been listed as among America's ten best Obstetricians and Gynecologists. During the past year, Dr. Morley's accomplishments have been recognized by receipt of the 1995 Distinguished Surgeons Award from the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons, the Vaginal Surgeons Award at the recent Sixth International Vaginal Surgery Conference, and the 1995 Medical Center Alumni Society Distinguished Achievement Award.

It is, perhaps, as an educator that the many residents, fellows, and medical students at Michigan will remember Dr. Morley best. In the operating room Dr. Morley has been the champion of education. Not only a firm master, he was also the untiring teacher, assuring that all members of the surgical team learned both the fundamental principles as well as the fine nuances of operative gynecology. In addition, as an excellent lecturer and discussant, Dr. Morley has served as a role model for junior faculty as a master of the podium.

It is in recognition of all of these significant accomplishments that the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Norman F. Miller Gynecologic Society recognize Dr. George W. Morley for his outstanding contributions.