Robert F. Spetzler

Robert F. Spetzler (born 1944) is a neurosurgeon and the J.N. Harber Chairman Emeritus of Neurological Surgery and director emeritus of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. He retired as an active neurosurgeon in July 2017. He is also Professor of Surgery, Section of Neurosurgery, at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, Arizona.

Spetzler specialized in cerebrovascular disease and skull base tumors. Extremely prolific, he has published more than 580 articles and 180 book chapters and has co-edited multiple neurosurgical textbooks, including The Color Atlas of Microneurosurgery (2000). He retired from surgery in July 2019.

Biography

Spetzler was born in Stierhöfstetten (Oberscheinfeld, near Würzburg) in Germany to where his parents had been evacuated due to the Second World War. When he was 11, he moved to the United States with his parents. He performed spectacularly in the American school system, despite the fact his first language was German.

Spetzler received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1967 from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois after attending a year of community college in Illinois. He spent a year at the Free University of Berlin, and then entered medical school at the Northwestern Medical School in Chicago in 1967, receiving his M.D. in 1971. He completed post-graduate training at Wesley Memorial Hospital–Northwestern and a residency in neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco, In 1983, Spetzler was named Chair of the Division of Neurological Surgery at Barrow Neurological Institute. He was named director in 1986.

Spetzler played a dominant role in the use of the standstill operation in treating large or dangerous cerebral aneurysms. In February 2007, Spetzler performed his 5,000th aneurysm procedure. He travels and lectures frequently on the most recent advances in neurosurgery. After 30 years at the Barrow, Spetzler retired in July 2019, with Michael T. Lawton as his successor.

Awards 1977, Annual Resident Award, 27th Annual Meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons 1994, Honored Guest, Congress of Neurological Surgeons (youngest surgeon to be so honored) 1999, Herbert Olivecrona Award, the "Nobel Prize of Neurosurgery" 2004, Honored Guest, 4th International Skull Base Congress 2009, William B. Scoville Award 2010, Founder's Laurel, Congress of Neurological Surgeons

Selected publications

Spetzler has written more than 300 articles and 180 book chapters, as well as co-editing multiple neurosurgical textbooks. A partial list is below:

Books Surgery of the Cerebellopontine Angle. Nicholas C. Bambakidis (Author), Cliff A. Megerian (Author), Robert F. Spetzler (Author). Pmph USA; 2009. Medicine, Miracles, and Manifestations: A Doctor's Journey Through the Worlds of Divine Intervention, Near-Death Experiences, and Universal Energy. John L. Turner (Author), Robert F. Spetzler (Foreword). Career Press; 2009. The Color Atlas of Microneurosurgery W. Koos (Author), Robert Spetzler (Author), Johannes Lang (Author), J. Zabramski (Author), Robert F. Spetzler (Author), Joseph M. Zabramski (Author). Thieme; 2000. . Pediatric Neurovascular Disease: Surgical, Endovascular and Medical Management. Michael Alexander (Editor), Robert Spetzler (Editor). Thieme; 2005.

Articles