Dr. Robert Faulconer helped found EVMS
Robert Faulconer, MD, a pathologist who was among the early advocates for the creation of EVMS and then devoted much of his career to teaching at the school, has died.
Dr. Faulconer joined the EVMS faculty in 1974 and made key contributions to the school’s pathology curriculum. He chaired what was then the department of pathology for 15 years. In all, he practiced pathology in Norfolk for 40 years.
In the 1960s, Dr. Faulconer was one a small group of community physicians who supported the idea of a medical school in Hampton Roads and worked to make it a reality.
“I was there when the school was just a gleam in the eyes of several others,” he said in 1994 when he donated his 2,500-volume medical library to the school.
Dr. Faulconer also was the school’s first chief marshal, a role he relished and continued for some three decades. In that capacity, he organized commencement exercises and planned other key academic functions, such as the installation of a new president or dean.
Each year, EVMS Pathology and Anatomy presents the Robert J. Faulconer Gold Medal to the graduating student who best demonstrates superior achievement in pathology. EVMS presented him with an honorary degree in 1998 in recognition of his contributions to the school and medical education.