James A. Clifton, III, MD, a member of the American Clinical and Climatological Association since 1964 and its Vice President (1983 −1984), died August 22, 2014, just short of his 91st birthday. Jim was a distinguished academic physician whose leadership and mentoring skills helped guide the University of Iowa Roy A. and Lucille J. Carver College of Medicine and the field of medicine for more than 4 decades.
Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Jim completed high school in Nashville, Tennessee, before attending college and medical school at Vanderbilt University from which he graduated in 1947. He served his internship and residency at the University of Iowa College of Medicine where he chose internal medicine as his specialty. A friendly colleague introduced him to Katherine Rathe of Waverly, Iowa, and they married in 1949. After his residency, Jim completed training in gastroenterology at Vanderbilt and later at the Boston University School of Medicine under Franz Ingelfinger, MD. Although he spent his entire professional career at Iowa, he remained a devoted friend to his many medical colleagues at Vanderbilt and a proud alumnus of that institution.
In 1953, Dr. Clifton joined the faculty in Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa College of Medicine. In 1955, mentor and department chair William Bean, MD, named him founding chief of the fledgling gastroenterology division. Over the 15 years that followed, his talent for management brought him increasing responsibility in the department and he served as its ninth chair from 1970 to 1977. Upon stepping down, he began planning a new center for digestive diseases and became its medical director in 1985. He retired in 1991, but returned that same year to serve for 2 years as Interim Dean of the College of Medicine at the request of University of Iowa President, Hunter Rawlings.
Dr. Clifton's strategic vision and analytic ability were evident in all phases of his career.
As an investigator, Jim and his colleague, the late Dr. Harold Schedl, published groundbreaking studies defining various aspects of intestinal absorption. Among these was an article published in Nature in 1963 demonstrating that the addition of glucose to a salt solution greatly enhanced the absorption of water and electrolytes. Based on their article, faculty at the Cholera Research Station in Dhaka, Bangladesh, developed the oral rehydration method for the treatment of cholera and subsequently the treatment of all forms of infectious diarrhea. It has been estimated that the lives of between 20 and 40 million children have been saved by this simple, inexpensive, and effective treatment. In recognition of the importance of this seminal observation, Jim was honored at a gathering of clinical and basic investigators in London in the late 1990s.
As Division Director, the gastroenterology division he founded became widely known and under his leadership had the distinction of garnering more research grant dollars from the National Institutes of Health than any other such division in the country.
As Head of Internal Medicine, he organized the department into seven divisions, laying the foundations for the structure of the current department.
As Medical Director of the Digestive Diseases Center, he guided the construction of new endoscopic and ambulatory care facilities and inpatient units.
As Interim Dean, he revitalized and reorganized the office with the appointment of a number of new Associated Deans, led the overhaul of the faculty practice plan, introduced information technology, and laid the groundwork for the development of a new medical school curriculum.
National and international medical and scientific organizations also recognized Dr. Clifton's leadership. At the National Institute of Health, he chaired the Gastroenterology and Nutrition Research Training Committee and represented gastroenterology on the National Advisory Council of the National Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive Disease Institute. He was president of the American Gastroenterological Association and the American College of Physicians. In the latter role, he received the Alfred Stengel Award for meritorious service after he guided a sweeping reorganization of the college. At the American Board of Internal Medicine, he was a member of the Board of Governors for 11 years, chairing both the parent board of governors and the gastroenterology subspecialty board.
Dr. Clifton was honored on numerous occasions for his lifetime achievements. He was the first Iowa College of Medicine faculty member elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He was a member of the Ludwig Institute of Cancer Research Scientific Committee, an international not-for-profit research organization. In 1974, he became the first Roy J. Carver Professor of Medicine. He was awarded Distinguished Alumni Awards from Vanderbilt School of Medicine, the University of Iowa College of Medicine and the University of Iowa Alumni Association, and was the first recipient of the Distinguished Mentor Award from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. He served as President of the University of Iowa Retirees Association and the University of Iowa Emeritus Faculty Council. Named in his honor are the James A. Clifton Center for Digestive Disease, the James A. Clifton Endowed Chair in Gastroenterology, and the Katherine and James Clifton Board Room, the premiere conference room in the College of Medicine.
Dr. Clifton was an articulate and diplomatic man with a well-honed sense of humor that remained intact to the end of his life. His daughter Carrie reported that while she was typing a dictated version of notes for his obituary, he remarked “you are composing while I am decomposing.” He felt his greatest gift was that he liked people, and said his family had been the biggest influence on his life. His parents encouraged him to work hard and get a good education. His wife's parents demonstrated the importance of political involvement, charitable giving, and education. His wife, Kathy, held the family together while he worked, he said, and she was the guide who kept him straight.
He is survived by his wife, Kathy, of 65 years; two daughters, Katie Deaderick and Carrie Adam, and four grandchildren.