Arthur Purdy Stout

Arthur Purdy Stout (1885–1967) was an American surgeon and pathologist.

Early years and education Arthur Purdy Stout was the fourth son of Joseph and Julia Frances (née Purdy) Stout. He attended the Pomfret School and Yale University, where he earned an A.B. degree in 1907. After spending a year abroad, Arthur entered the College of Physicians & Surgeons (CPS) of Columbia University. He completed his M.D. degree in 1912.

Career at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York Stout was a surgical house-officer at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City; he then joined the staff of CPS in 1914 as an instructor in surgery. During World War I, Dr. Stout was a field surgeon in the U.S. Army in France (see image at right).

Stout authored over 300 scientific articles and one monograph, entitled Human Cancer (1932). He also wrote three fascicles for the Atlas of Tumor Pathology, published by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. He belonged to several professional societies and was the recipient of many awards. In 1947, an organization of surgical pathologists was named the "Arthur Purdy Stout Club" in his honor. It still exists as the Arthur Purdy Stout Society of Surgical Pathologists, (Accessed 8-22-23) the members of which are dedicated to scholarship in surgical pathology.

Retirement and subsequent years When he retired from CPS in 1951, Stout became director of pathology at Francis Delafield Hospital, a municipal cancer hospital affiliated with Columbia University. In 1954, he coined the term fibromatosis (in the name congenital generalized fibromatosis, describing myofibromatosis). He remained a professor emeritus of Surgery at Columbia and a Consulting Pathologist at both Delafield and Presbyterian Hospitals. Stout died at age 82 on December 21, 1967, from complications of prostatic adenocarcinoma.

Personal life Dr. Stout married Jean Stoddart in 1915. She was born in Canada. They had one child, Julia Frances Stout, whose birthday was in 1916.