The Association has been notified that a valuable Fellow, Dr. Herbert H. Dedo, passed on August 5, 2021 in Hillsborough, California as an extended illness. In 1973, Dr. Dedo was proposed for Active Fellowship by the late Drs. Francis Sooy and Joseph Ogura. Following retirement from active practice in 2010, he requested elevation to Emeritus fellowship.
Born in Detroit Michigan, Dr. Dedo completed his undergraduate education at the University of California – Los Angeles and received his medical degree at the University of California – Los Angeles in 1958. His residency training in Otolaryngology was at UCSF. He was an early fellowship trained head and neck oncologic surgeon. Dr. Dedo’s training was then followed by NIH Special fellowships at Washington University of St. Louis with Dr. Ogura and the University of Hamburg in Germany.
It was Dr. Sooy who gave Dr. Dedo his first job as an academic otolaryngologist at UCSF in 1966 where he remained until his retirement in 2010. Dr. Dedo was an inveterate innovator and tinkerer who was a renowned laryngologist and head and neck surgeon. He was responsible for many new techniques and many instrument iterations which made the practice of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery more facile. He was a pioneer in adapting the laser to be of precise utility in the difficult to access regions of the airway.
Spending his academic career at UCFS, Dr. Dedo was a character who was very opinionated; however, he was always willing to assist when difficult clinical situations arose
with viewpoints based upon vast clinical experience. Dr. Dedo published a truly elegant surgical atlas called Surgery of the Larynx and Trachea in 1990 that exquisitely outlined his painstaking surgical approaches. He authored/co-authored more than 200 papers, presentations, chapters, and speakingengagements. When Herb was in the operating room at UCSF, he often hosted visiting surgeons from around the world. He was a true pioneer in the treatment of laryngeal dystonias, laryngeal paralysis, and also was a surgeon who was in the forefront of managing recurrent respiratory papillomatosis and laryngeal and tracheal stenosis. Multiple generations of UCSF OHNS surgeons and students could recite Herb’s approaches to clinical problems by heart.
Being an ALA Fellow for more 48 years, Dr. Dedo was also an active member in the Triological Society where he received the prestigious Harris P. Mosher Award for his 1970 Triological Thesis, the Society of University Otolaryngologists and American Society for Head and Neck Surgery is noteworthy. In 2005, he was the recipient of the American Laryngological Association Award presented to individuals who have made a mark of recognition and esteem for outstanding achievement.
In addition of his career as a physician-teacher, his outside interest including a fascination of airplanes (World War II fighter aircraft) as a sailor. Among those left to cherish his life and memory are his wife, Sigrid Homs Dedo; sons, Douglas S. , William, and John; and brother, Douglas D.