Images(3)

Coat, Laboratory

Object number2017.54.2

MediumFabric; Plastic; Ink

Credit LineGift of Bernard Klionsky

DescriptionWhite fabric laboratory coat or lab coat. Long-sleeve. Collar with lapel and two buttons and four button holes down front opening. One pocket over proper left breast and one pocket on front of each hip. Each hip has slit opening.DimensionsHeight x Width (Width is between shoulder seams): 43.25 × 17.25 in. (109.9 × 43.8 cm)
InscriptionsInside back of collar is stamped black text “-B-KLIONSKY-MAGE [sic]”.
MarksWhite fabric tag inside collar at back center has red embroidered text “38”.
Historical NotesThis lab coat was used by Bernard Klionsky. It was possibly used when he was the director of Laboratories at Magee-Women's Hospital, a position he held for twenty-seven years or later when he worked at Presbyterian Hospital. Bernard Klionsky was born on October 8, 1925, in Binghamton, NY, the eldest son of Max and Marion Klionsky. He had two siblings, Eileen, born in 1928, and Seymour, born in 1934. He graduated from high school at the age of 16, and received admission to Harvard in 1942. During WWII, Klionsky trained as an electronic technician for the U.S. Navy and shipped out on August 1, 1945, arriving in Okinawa shortly after Japan’s surrender. After two years of service in the Navy, Klionsky returned to Harvard, and began applying to medical school. In 1950, Bernard Klionsky married Esther Walder, who went on to become a professor of English and Biblical Literature at the University of Pittsburgh and at Chatham College. Together, the couple had four children; Nina, Matthew, Ruth, and Daniel. Bernard Klionsky attended Syracuse Medical School, and Hahnemann Medical College, did an internship at Wisconsin General Hospital and a residency at the University of Kansas. In 1961, he moved to Pittsburgh to become director of Laboratories at Magee-Women's Hospital, a position he held for twenty-seven years, and later took a position at Presbyterian University Hospital. Early in his career, Klionsky invented the open-top cryostat for collecting samples in the operating room, which has had a lasting impact on surgical pathology. Among his other professional accomplishments, Klionsky served as the president of the American Cancer Society, chaired the U.S. Public Health Service Committee on Reproducibility of Diagnosis, set up the pathology department at Beersheba Hospital in Israel from 1974-1975, and taught at the University of Pittsburgh’s Medical School for many years, where he collaborated with a Chemistry faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh in the 1970s to develop a program that allowed professors to put together lessons on the computer, and was active in the medical school admissions process, even after his retirement. In addition to his work in the field of pathology, Bernard Klionsky was active in Pittsburgh’s Jewish community. He was the original founder of Congregation Dor Hadash, and served as the president of Young People’s Synagogue.

Previous owner Bernard Klionsky (born 1925)

Related person Esther Klionsky

Related institution UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital (founded 1999)

Related institution University of Pittsburgh

Related institution Harvard University

Related institution United States Navy

Related institution Syracuse Medical School

Related institution Hahnemann Medical College

Related institution Wisconsin General Hospital

Related institution University of Kansas

Related institution American Cancer Society

Related institution Congregation Dor Hadash