Arthur M. Shipley

Arthur M. Shipley was born into a prominent Maryland family on January 8, 1878 in Harmans, Anne Arundel County. He was educated first at the county’s public schools and then at the Friends School in Baltimore. He received his medical degree from the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine in 1902.

As a young man, Shipley was fond of canoeing, and braved some of the most dangerous rapids in the United States and Canada. He often went to the Hudson Bay country of Canada and in later years retained a fondness for salmon fishing in New Brunswick.

For more than 50 years, with the exception of serving in WWI, he was affiliated with the University of Maryland, as an intern, associate professor of surgery, clinical professor of surgery, professor of surgery and finally, as the head of surgery. He also held the position of Head of Surgery at Baltimore City Hospitals from 1911 to 1948.

Although Dr. Shipley was mainly associated with University of Maryland, one of the articles he published was on Dr. Halsted, who was affiliated with Hopkins. 

In 1906, Dr. Shipley went to Germany to study medicine at the Strasbourg Clinic. In 1918, he served in France with the Army Medical Corps with Evacuation Hospital No. 8. He saw active service caring for wounded soldiers in the battles of Chateau Thierry, Belleau Wood and the Argonne. More than 14,000 wounded soldiers were treated at the Evacuation Hospital. Dr. Shipley returned to the United States with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

As Dr. Shipley progressed in his career, he joined numerous professional organizations, including the American Surgical Society, the Clinical Surgery Society, the Southern Surgical Society and the American College of Surgeons. He was author of more than 80 articles on surgical problems, as well as a speaker at medical societies across the United States. Of historical significance is the fact that Dr. Shipley resected the first preoperatively diagnosed pheochromocytoma on June 27, 1928. He was well known by his contemporaries as a clinician with compulsive attention to detail and in-depth knowledge of the medical and surgical literature.

Dr. Shipley was a president of the Baltimore City Medical Society, and President of the Medical & Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland in 1937.

Dr. Arthur M. Shipley died in Baltimore on October 16, 1955.