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Thomas S. Whitecloud III, Chairman and Ray J. Haddad Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Tulane University of Louisiana School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana, died on February 18, 2003, at the age of sixty-two. He was internationally renowned and respected as an innovative spine surgeon and researcher with expertise in both the cervical and lumbar spine.
Tom Whitecloud was born in New Orleans in 1940 while his father, Thomas St. Germain Whitecloud II, was a medical student. Tom's father earned his medical degree from Tulane University of Louisiana School of Medicine in 1943 and is believed to be the first Native American graduate of that institution. The elder Whitecloud joined the Indian Health Service, practiced medicine and surgery in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi, and was a famous writer of Indian stories and poems. Tom's grandfather, Thomas St. Germain, was a Native American of the Chippewa tribe and a teammate of Olympian athlete Jim Thorpe at the Carlisle Indian School.
Tom assisted his father in surgery starting at the age of twelve. He went to high school in Picayune, Mississippi, and then attended Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana, graduating in 1962. He was an outstanding student athlete and played quarterback for the Louisiana College football team. Because of his athletic prowess and his size, he received an invitation from Coach Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers professional football team to come to training camp, but Tom preferred to follow his father's footsteps in the study of medicine. He graduated from Tulane University of Louisiana School of Medicine in 1966 and took his residency as a United States Public Health Service resident at Tulane University Affiliated Hospitals from 1967 to 1971. In 1972, he became chief surgeon of the United States Public Health Hospital and joined the faculty of the Tulane University of Louisiana School of Medicine.
Tom was a gifted surgeon who was known for his ability to treat the most difficult lumbar and cervical spinal problems in patients who were referred to him from around the region. He was among the first surgeons in the South to focus his practice on spine surgery, particularly the cervical spine. The author of numerous articles and book chapters, he published his first article in 1976...