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The Ogden Bruton Award

• Past Recipients of the Ogden Bruton Award

The Ogden C. Bruton Award, given by the Uniformed Services Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics, is an annual citation and purse for the best paper by a Uniformed Services pediatrician on either basic research or applied research on the development, evaluation, or application of an emerging technology in pediatrics.

This award was originally sponsored by the Med-Johnson Nutritional Division and was first presented at West Point, New York in 1969.  In 1989 the Uniformed Services Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics provided additional recognition and awards for individuals placing second and third place in this competition.

The award is named in honor of Dr. Ogden C. Bruton, discoverer of the immunodeficiency disease bearing his name and organizer of the first pediatric residency program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Ogden C Bruton
Colonel, Medical Corps, US Army (Ret)

Ogden Carr Bruton was born on June 14, 1908, in Mount Gilead, North Carolina.  At the age of 16 he entered Trinity College, which was to become Duke University, and graduated in 1929.  He then attended Vanderbilt University School of Medicine where he received his MD degree in 1933, remaining for his pediatric residency until 1936 when he became a member of faculty.  Recipient of the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship, he spent time at the Child Guidance Clinic of Los Angeles and the Pediatric Psychiatry Clinic of Babies Hospital in New York in 1938-1939.  After returning to Vanderbilt, he was conscripted as a reserve officer to serve one year in the peacetime army in 1940 and began an illustrious 21-year military career with assignments at Walter Reed; the 210th General Hospital, Ft. Gulick, Panama; Army Regional Hospital, Ft. Knox, Kentucky; and Tripler General Hospital, Hawaii.  In 1946 after a single month of private practice in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he was recalled as a consultant by the Army Surgeon General to improve health conditions and care for “war brides” and their babies prior to and during their passage to the United States.  His recommendation for a training course for physicians staffing returning troop ships was instrumental in improving the case for infants and children.  During this time he received a Regular Army commission.  Upon returning to the United States, he was assigned to Walter Reed General Hospital to develop the Army’s first pediatric training program.  He became a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Georgetown University School of Medicine and a consultant at the Children’s Hospital, Washington, D.C.  The remainder of his military career was spent at Walter Reed except for a period from 1955-1958 while he was at Tripler General Hospital, Hawaii, directing the pediatric service and gaining residency training approval.

On May 28, 1944, he married Melda Kathryn (Kay) Dove of Winchester, Virginia.  They have a daughter, Kathryn Jo and a son, Odgen Carr, Jr.

The discovery and treatment of agammaglobulinemia in a male child with repeated pneumococcal infections, published in 1952, was an epoch-making contribution to medicine.  This basic investigation led to later studies that have broadened our current understanding of not only the immunological deficiencies, but other immunological phenomena.  As a clinician and educator, Dr. Bruton has influenced the lives of untold numbers of medical students, residents and colleagues.; Many of his former pediatric residents became leaders in military and academic medicine.  For all those who know him,  “The patient is first, and last, always.”

At the 1992 Uniformed Services Pediatric Seminar in Washington DC, Dr. Bruton was awarded the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award.This prestigious award, the highest that the Department of Defense can give to a civilian, requires approval by the Secretary of the Army.  It recognized his significant lifetime achievements and contributions to pediatric care, education of pediatricians, and support of pediatric research within the Department of Defense.

Ogden C Bruton has fostered the highest ideals of the American Academy of Pediatrics, The American Pediatric Society, and the United States Army Medical Corps.  Many deserved honors: military, medical, and humanitarian have come to him.  However, the significance of the Bruton Award and the Bruton Lectureship of the Military Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics are sources of personal enjoyment and pride to him.  By competing for each annual Ogden C Bruton Award, young pediatricians in the military services will continue to advance the health care of infants and children and to add the noble legacy and tradition established by Ogden C Bruton for military pediatrics.                       

Billy F. Andrews, MD, FAAP

(Revision by John R Pierce, MD 12/93)