The U.S. and Canadian Academy of Pathology is pleased to dedicate this 93rd annual meeting to a member
who, for over half a century, was a shaping influence on our Academy.
The accomplishments of Dr. F.K. Mostofi have been well chronicled. They are known to anyone with even
passing familiarity with our Academy or the discipline of pathology. The full spectrum of contributions
and influences of Kash Mostofi cannot be condensed into a few pages. These include his decades as the
world's premier urologic pathologist, his distinguished record of publications and investigations, his
phenomenal record of post-graduate pathology education, his half century of consultation services as
Chief of Urologic Pathology at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, his leadership and broad global
perspectives as reflected in many contributions to WHO educational activities and on and on…. We
wish to commemorate, however, the special passion, untiring energy and commitment that Kash brought to
organized pathology. Early on, he recognized the potential benefits of collegial educational
interactions and the value of our division and of its parent international organization in furthering
these goals.
He envisioned the latent potential of what was then the International Association of Medical Museums
and was a sentinel influence as it has evolved into the International Academy of Pathology, a vibrant and
growing society with 50 plus divisions in every continent.
Kash's long and faithful service to the Academy in virtually every office and as Maude Abbott Lecturer
(pages 208 -210, has been acknowledged previously. At our annual meeting in 1977, President Jack Layton
presented him with the Karsh portrait above. Subsequently the Council established the Mostofi
Distinguished Service Award (pages 122-123).
Exactly fifty years ago, while serving as Secretary-Treasurer (28 years!), Kash conceived of and
introduced the first day-long course exploring in-depth the pathology of a single organ. Not
surprisingly, the first such course was in the area of urologic pathology, i.e. the kidney. We have come
full circle with this year's topic. The wisdom and foresight of this idea is reflective in the
uninterrupted continuum of this annual event.
Our short courses (pages 160-161; 199-201; 205-207) are directly attributable to his setting the
example and model for same.
His influence extends to companion societies, for example, he was the architect of the International
Society of Urologic Pathology (page 23) and its founding President. The Pediatric Pathology Club (page
20) had its origin in Kash's hotel room at a USCAP meeting. There is a similar pedigree for the Renal
Pathology Society (page 26).
It is therefore fitting that the Leadership of the Academy has taken the unprecedented step of
dedicating this meeting to the memory of Kash Mostofi and to the spirit of inquiry and the enthusiasm for
the discipline of pathology so characteristic of him.
It is relevant to recall Sir Christopher Wren's epitaph "Lector, Sin Monumentum
Requiris Circumspice" (Reader: If you seek his monument, look about you). In this program book,
in the meeting rooms and in the institutional memory of the U.S. and Canadian Academy of Pathology, those
who wish to know the importance of Kash Mostofi to the organization and to generations of its members,
need simply to look about.
