BOB KUHLMAN (Jan 1950)

When Dr. Robert E. Kuhlman graduated from RHS in January of 1950, he decided to go to Washington University Medical School instead of accepting a full scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He earned his M.D. in 1956 with a specialty in opthalmology and went into research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda Maryland. Later, he rose to senior eye surgeon in the Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
It was in this position that he saw a need for more and better doctors in the field of orthopaedic surgery. He returned to Barnes Jewish hospital in St. Louis, where he served a residency in orthopaedics and was certified in his second specialty. After his certification he opened a private practice in Queeny Towers in the Barnes complex.
With the help of the National Institutes of Health, he established an orthopaedic medicine laboratory at Washington University and was an adjunct professor there. He developed his own knee prosthesis as well as a polymer cement that was widely used in joint replacement surgeries.
Over a period of forty years, Dr. Kuhlman co-authored countless research papers published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Bone and Joint U.K. and in the Journal of the American Medical Association. His research was supported by the Scottish Rite Foundation. Bob also gave many presentations to his peers at the American College of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons.
He gave back to his community by donating his time and services to the treatment of children at the Shriner’s Hospital for Children.
Dr. Robert Kuhlman was inducted into the United Kingdom’s Royal College of Surgeons. He was a victim of COVID-19.

DOB: Nov 07, 1932 DOD: Jan 10, 2021 St. Louis, MO Age 88