Graduating from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts in 1911 and from our Medical School in 1913, Dr. Wilson, as a young assistant and instructor in internal medicine from 1913 to 1916, at once devoted himself to the study of electrocardiography, then a new science, promising much but little understood. This interest continued throughout his instructorship at Washington University, St. Louis, his war service, and his subsequent brilliant career as a member of our own medical faculty from 1920 up to the time of his death.
It is hardly sufficient to say that Dr. Wilson became, and was recognized as, the world's leading cardiologist; his searching studies revealed fundamental principles hitherto unknown, introduced improvements in technique and interpretation, and are the basis of the science as it is practiced today. These achievements will live long after Dr. Wilson's death, giving hope of renewed health to thousands, for the work, which he has done is characterized by accuracy and permanence.
Dr. Wilson received numerous honors testifying to his leadership in his field-our own Henry Russel Lectureship and the establishment, by his colleagues, of the Frank N. Wilson Lectureship in Cardiology, an honorary degree from the Escola Paulista de Miedicina, in Brazil, honorary memberships in foreign medical societies, the Gold Heart Award of the American Heart Association, and the dedication to him of special numbers of the two leading journals of his profession, Circulation and The American Heart Journal.
Physicians from all parts of this country and from many others throughout the world came here to study under his guidance, and became his devoted friends and admirers, for however exacting he may have been as a scientist and diagnostician there was no ostentation in Dr. Wilson's nature, and his wide interests outside of his medical work made him a delightful companion. It was indeed an honor to this University to have claimed so distinguished a physician as an alumnus and for some thirty-five years as a member of its faculty.
Regents’ Proceedings
September 1, 1952, page 610
