The Cantrell Society
In Honor of Robert W. Cantrell, MD · 1933–2026
The Cantrell Society honors a man who shaped this department across five decades — its first full-time academic chairman, a builder of its research programs, and a mentor whose counsel guided generations of residents. Named in his memory, the Society carries his belief that excellence demands exposure to excellence, sustaining a tradition of bringing the field’s finest minds to Charlottesville.
Our Mission
The Cantrell Society exists to honor Dr. Cantrell’s legacy in two lasting ways: by sponsoring the annual Fitz-Hugh Symposium Banquet, renamed in his honor, and by funding an endowed visiting professorship that brings distinguished voices in otolaryngology to UVA each year. Every gift is a direct investment in the same pursuit of knowledge that defined his career — and in the residents and faculty who carry it forward.
Honoring a Life of Service
Robert W. Cantrell, MD, was a giant of otolaryngology — a surgeon, educator, institution-builder, and leader whose influence shaped the specialty at every level. After a distinguished military career, including service as chair of otolaryngology at San Diego Naval Hospital, then the largest military hospital in the world, he came to UVA in 1976 as the department’s first full-time academic chairman.
Over the next twenty years, he transformed a geographically dispersed practice into a nationally ranked academic department. He recruited faculty who went on to lead programs across the country and built the research infrastructure behind landmark discoveries, including early evidence that cochlear hair cells could regenerate — a finding that opened an entirely new field of inquiry. When U.S. News & World Report began ranking specialty departments in 1991, Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery was UVA’s highest-ranked department, a distinction it held for years afterward.
Beyond UVA, Dr. Cantrell served as president of several of the specialty’s most distinguished societies, as Executive Vice President of the American Board of Otolaryngology, and ultimately as Executive Vice President and Provost of the UVA Health System. He was a recipient of the Triological Society’s Mosher Award, one of the field’s highest honors.
Above all, he was a believer in people. He recruited with care, mentored with conviction, and measured his own success by the careers of those he trained — a philosophy he summed up simply:
“When you start with outstanding people, they continue to be outstanding — during, and long after, their residencies.”
He is remembered as a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, and by a department that continues to carry his standard forward.
What Your Gift Supports
The Fitz-Hugh Symposium Banquet
In 1976, Dr. Cantrell founded the Fitz-Hugh Symposium in honor of his predecessor, G. Slaughter Fitz-Hugh. For nearly fifty years, it has drawn the specialty’s most distinguished voices to Charlottesville each spring, gathering alumni and leaders in the field in the teaching tradition he championed. Gifts to the Cantrell Society sponsor the Symposium’s banquet — now renamed in his honor — ensuring the evening that closes each year’s gathering reflects the legacy it celebrates.
The Visiting Professorship
The Society also funds an endowed visiting professorship, bringing leading voices in otolaryngology to Grounds to teach, inspire, and challenge the next generation of residents. It is a direct continuation of the belief Dr. Cantrell built this department on: that growth requires actively seeking out the best minds in the field.
A Note from the Chair
“I created the Robert W. Cantrell Society to carry that legacy forward — supporting the Symposium’s banquet, to be renamed in Dr. Cantrell’s honor, and establishing a visiting professorship that brings the field’s luminaries to Grounds. The Society honors a man who shaped this department across five decades: its first full-time academic chair, a builder of its research programs, and a teacher whose counsel guided generations of residents.”
— Stephen S. Park, MD, Professor & Chair
How to Give
Every gift to the Cantrell Society is an investment in that same relentless pursuit of knowledge Dr. Cantrell championed for nearly fifty years.
Learn More
Read Dr. Cantrell’s own address on the history of the department, along with the Department’s memorial tribute, shared in his honor:
In Memoriam: Robert W. Cantrell, MD →
This memoriam was shared with attendees at the 50th Annual Fitz-Hugh Symposium, June 12–13, 2026.