In Memoriam: Henry J. Mankin, M.D.

The world recently lost a great figure in the pantheon of orthopedic surgeons. Henry J. Mankin, M.D., a world-renown tumor surgeon whose orthopedic career spanned over 50 years, passed away at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, on December 22, 2018. He was 90 years old.

Dr. Mankin is survived by his three children, Allison Joan, David Phillip, and Keith Pinkney; and three grandchildren, Sam, Molly and Cameron. He was preceeded in death by his beloved wife of sixty years, Carole Jane Mankin (nee Pinkney).

Private services have been held. A memorial service will take place in the spring.

A native of Pittsburgh, Henry Mankin attended the University of Pittsburgh for both his undergraduate and medical degrees. Dr. Mankin told OTW, in 2009, “Our class had 100 people, only five of whom were women; compare that with this year’s class at Harvard, which has 54% women.”

During his internal medicine internship at the University of Chicago, Henry Mankin was called upon to work as a Naval physician in Nevada. He said, “I got my introduction to orthopedics courtesy of some of the military folks around me who got into fights and broke one another’s limbs.”

In 1957 Dr. Mankin undertook a residency at The Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York, after which time he spent six years at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1966 he returned to the Hospital for Joint Diseases as chief of service and professor at Mt. Sinai.

Dr. Mankin would spend the next 40 years of his career as the chief of orthopedics at the Massachusetts General Hospital and at Harvard Medical School.

Freddie Fu, M.D. said of his dear friend and colleague, “A legend in orthopaedics, Dr Mankin’s contribution to education, research and patient care in our field around the world is tremendous and forever lasting. His iconic, down to earth, and funny demeanor made him so very special!”

The winner of 2004 Diversity Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Dr. Mankin was ahead of his time. Constance Chu, M.D. said of her friend and mentor, “Henry Mankin was an inspirational leader who embraced diversity in orthopedic surgery long before it was fashionable. I met him in an elevator at the Mass General in 1991. After hearing that I had graduated from West Point and was interested in orthopedics, he ushered me out at Gray 6 where he introduced me to the large team waiting for him and then exuberantly announced, ‘She is going to be an orthopedic surgeon.’ Shortly thereafter, he shared with me his reverence for articular cartilage and challenged me to figure out how to heal cartilage and prevent osteoarthritis. He was an incredible figure who inspired and shaped the careers of countless orthopedic surgeons, who opened the door for women and minorities, and who devoted himself to everything about orthopedics.I am saddened by his loss.”

Dr. Mankin established a computerized system for tumors that includes all of the tumor patients he treated since 1972. He completed two volumes of the pathology and physiology of orthopedic disease. Dr. Mankin said, “I believe the books are particularly useful for residents, fellows, and people in clinical science. In composing these books I have held in mind that we need to determine the best way to operate on patients and the simplest way to treat fractures. We must consider disease states, what they mean, and what we can understand from them about bones, soft tissue, and joints.”

“It is a great loss,” said Mark C. Gebhardt, M.D. “Whether you knew him or not, you have been influenced by his teachings. At every residency graduation he would start with, ‘Classes come, and classes go…’ and then would talk about teaching as the highest profession; because your challenge as a teacher is for your students to go on and do better and more wonderful things than you could ever imagine as their teacher. And that will remain his ageless legacy.”

The family has requested that donations in Dr. Mankin’s memory be made to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Medical Alumni Association Scholarship Fund, 128 North Craig Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260