Pathfinders of the Heart

William C. Sheldon?s career at the Cleveland Clinic spanned thirty-eight
years, during which he was Chairman of Cardiology for sixteen. For the
past ten years, in retirement, he remains a close, not entirely disinterested
observer. He witnessed or participated in many of the events described
in this monograph; what he didn?t witness he was given fi rst-person
descriptions by those who did ? two close friends, William Proudfi t, and
Earl Shirey.
Born in a small Wisconsin dairy town
of a country lawyer and former nurse,
Sheldon received his undergraduate
and medical degrees at Northwestern
University, in Evanston and Chicago.
After an Internship at Northwestern?s
Passavant Memorial Hospital he and
Margaret were married. Completing a
residency in Internal Medicine in 1960
at Northwestern?s V. A. Research Hospital
in Chicago, he moved to Cleveland with
his young family, ostensibly to specialize
in Hypertension. But his fi rst assignment,
in the laboratory of F. Mason Sones, Jr.,
was a life changing experience.
Now, from the perspective of an Emeritus
Staff member, he describes the unique
evolution of a Department in an era of
relentless change in medicine, and how
it came to be the nation?s No. 1 program.