By Ron Hartung
March 1, 2012

Many faculty members at this still-young College of Medicine built monumental careers at other medical schools, and some of those schools still applaud them from afar.

Just this week, for example, Executive Associate Dean Robert Watson learned that a classroom in the University of Florida’s new medical education building will be named for him.

It’s not just any classroom.

“I was beyond surprised when I heard about an education room being named in my honor, a room that will also serve as a permanent home for the Chapman Humanism Society,” said Watson, a neurologist who taught at the UF College of Medicine for more than 35 years, including 17 as senior associate dean for educational affairs.  

The Chapman Society is the UF chapter of the national Gold Humanism Honor Society, which is committed to “working within and beyond medical education to inspire, nurture and sustain lifelong advocates and activists for patient-centered medical care.”

As Watson explained at the society’s latest induction ceremony in Gainesville this week, the Chapman Society was formed after a patient of his, Annie Lou Chapman, told him the medical care her husband had gotten before he died in 1991 was less compassionate than she had hoped.

Watson said he remembered giving a speech to the UF medical school’s Class of 2005 in 2001: “I told them the key to being a great doctor was to be a caring doctor. They listened, and then everyone ran off to make an A in anatomy. That’s when I realized I was a hypocrite — there was nothing to back that up.”

Before long, the Chapman Humanism Society was born.

At this week’s ceremony, Dr. Michael Good, dean of the UF College of Medicine, praised Watson as the epitome of “integrity, compassionate concern and respect.” That’s also how he is known at the Florida State College of Medicine, where he joined the administration in 2008.

For him, the real thrill is not so much that his name is attached to the UF room but that there will be a permanent home for the Chapman Society.

“I was told the idea came from alumni, which is gratifying,” Watson said. “I am grateful to my patient, Mrs. Chapman, who provided a gift sufficient for a naming opportunity, and others who have pledged support.”

Watson said he speaks with Mrs. Chapman every Saturday by phone. At age 97, she’s no longer able to travel from Fort Myers for the annual Chapman banquets. But he made sure she'll get a video of this week's ceremony.