David Gordon Sherman, M.D.

David Gordon Sherman, M. D., Professor in the Department of Medicine Division of Neurology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, holder of the Ross J. Siebert Research Fund Distinguished Chair at the Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and former Chief of Neurology at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, Audie Murphy Division, passed away on Thursday, 29 November 2007 after courageously battling the complications of surgery three and a half years ago.

Dr. Sherman was born in Purcell, Oklahoma on March 11, 1942 to Carl and Syble Sherman and grew up on the family farm in Lexington, Oklahoma which was purchased by his grandfather in 1898. His determination for going to medical school came from working long, hot summers of hauling hay into the hot, tin roofed barns in the Oklahoma sun. His self drive and motivation spurred him to become valedictorian of his high school class, to achieve the second highest grade point average as a University of Oklahoma undergraduate and to be inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. In medical school, also at OU, he belonged to Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and was later voted outstanding medical intern at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Dr. Sherman served in the Navy from 1969-1971 after which he began his residency training in Neurology at the University of California San Diego. While in San Diego he formed a life long relationship with his friend and colleague Dr. J. Donald Easton. This relationship would lead him through his career in academic medicine as he went on to join the faculty at Southern Illinois University in Springfield in 1974. After moving to the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1977, he formed a tightly knit professional bond with Dr. Robert Hart and Dr. Jack Carter. In 1983, Drs. Easton, Sherman, Hart and Carter moved to San Antonio to the UT Health Science Center.

Dr. Sherman's major academic interest was in the area of stroke prevention and treatment and he was an internationally recognized leader and researcher who authored over one hundred scientific publications. He served as the Program Committee for the International Joint Conference on Stroke and Cerebral Circulation and organized and conducted many clinical research trials which are credited with preventing tens of thousands of strokes each year. In 1994 he was awarded the prestigious Award of Excellence in Clinical Stroke and in 2006 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Neurological Society. He was honored by medical students with several teaching awards and the seventy neurologists who trained under him are now treating neurological disease throughout Texas and the U.S. His residents were his special pride and he was admired and respected by his peers in the medical community.

David Sherman was beloved by all of his family. He is survived by his wife of thirty four years, Carla Pisarro Sherman, his daughters Carol Sherman Williams, Rebecca Suter, Alexis Francesca Sherman and his son Nicholas Alessandro Sherman. He has two grandchildren, Alexandra Williams and Carl Suter. He is survived by his brother Carey Sherman of Lexington, Oklahoma.

David Sherman was an outstanding neurologist and stroke researcher, beloved teacher, steadfast friend, and devoted husband and father. His intelligence, warmth, humor and universal kindness will be sorely missed by the many whose lives he enriched. His family wishes to thank Dr. Bradley Kayser, his wife Gemma, Anne Leonard, David Scotch and their many close friends for their compassionate care and support during David's time of great need.

Flowers are appreciated or memorial contributions can be made to the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio to support the David Sherman, M.D. Memorial Lecture Series at 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, MC 7835, San Antonio, Texas 78229.