Remembering Kenneth N. Anderson Sr., MD, FACS
Dear UW Urology Colleagues and Friends,
The Department of Urology regrets the passing of Kenneth N. Anderson Sr., MD, FACS, on February 20, 2024. Dr. Ken Anderson was one of the first residents to complete training in Urology in the newly established Department and went on to a distinguished urological career in our community. He received his bachelor’s degree from University of Washington in 1951, and after service with the U.S. Naval Medical Corps, returned to UW, earning his medical degree from the School of Medicine in 1958. Following an Internal Medicine Residency in 1962, and appointment as the Medical Director of King County Hospital – now known as Harborview Medical Center, Dr. Anderson matriculated in the University of Washington Urology Residency Program for his training from 1965 to 1968 under founding Chair Dr. Julian Ansell.
Establishing a urology practice in downtown Seattle, Dr. Anderson went on to become an important link between the Department and the urological community in King County and across the State of Washington. His earliest contributions were as one of the original preceptors in a Urinary Systems Core Curriculum implemented by the Department in 1969 to teach urology to medical students in office practices across Seattle.
Active in the Washington State Urology Society (President, Past President, Historian and Bylaws Chair), The Northwest Urological Society (President, Past President), and the Seattle Surgical Society, Dr. Anderson’s wealth of experience, practical insights, encouragement and enthusiasm helped to advance the goals and agendas of these organizations. Chair Emeritus Paul H. Lange, MD FACS, the Department’s second Chair, recalls Dr. Anderson’s ongoing support of his alma mater. “He introduced me widely to the urologists in the Puget Sound area and supported the Department’s Grand Rounds programs more than any other.” Even long after retirement Dr. Anderson held the role of elder statesman, a familiar figure to all who attended the Washington State Urological Society and Seattle Surgical Society meetings.
Richard Pelman MD FACS, Professor Emeritus, remembers that “it was part of Dr. Anderson’s personality to mentor and welcome younger members of the urological community. He never viewed someone as competition or as a threat to his practice; instead, he embodied the spirit that the better we were professionally as a group, the better you were as an individual. It is no wonder that he was held in high esteem by his peers. He would, with a smile and a handshake, deliver you into the company of colleagues and help you discover the enrichment to one’s career that comes with community.”
Dr. Ken Anderson and his wife Sylvia were generous benefactors of UW Medicine. For his many contributions, Dr. Anderson received the 1986 UW Alumni Service Award https://uwmedalumni.org/alumni-awards/previous-recipients/. The Andersons established an endowed fund in Dr. Anderson's specialty area, the Kenneth N. Anderson, Sr. Urology Resident Endowment. This fund provides essential support for our trainees in the Urology Residency Program, recruiting the most talented and diverse trainees, providing outstanding clinical and surgical training, and developing leaders in urology including those in community practice and academic surgeon scientists.
Additional details of Dr. Anderson’s life can be found in his obituary https://obituaries.seattletimes.com/obituary/kenneth-anderson-sr-md-facs-1089421209. We mourn his loss.
