Gerhard Schmeisser ’48

Marylander Dr. Gerry, a distinguished orthopedist, was one of six members of ’48 who graduated together in 1953 from Johns Hopkins Medical School.

He came to Princeton from the Gilman School, roomed with Earl Galleher and Jim Neely, earned high honors in biology, and graduated in 1949. He stayed on at Johns Hopkins as a surgical resident, then in oncology, then in orthopedics. In 1971 he became professor of orthopedics at Hopkins.

Before age 40, Gerry had been selected as one of “100 young Americans making the greatest contributions.” He was a leading inventor, researcher, and designer of prosthetic devices, such as electronically powered arms, hands, wheelchairs for quadriplegics, and other electronic/robotic systems. For many years he commuted by motorcycle to work in Baltimore from his home on Gibson Island, Md. After his retirement in1991, he sailed North American waterways and to Abaco in the Bahamas.

Gerry died Sept. 30, 2012, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He and Ann (née Melvin), a onetime nurse at Johns Hopkins, were married for 55 years. She survives him.