Chester Martin Jr.

Chester Barton "Bart" Martin, Jr., 80, of Middleton, Professor Emeritus of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, passed away on May 26, 2013. Born on February 25, 1933 to Chester Barton and Mary Blackwell Pridgen Martin in Durham, North Carolina, he was the oldest of six children. Trains, train routes and timetables fascinated young Bart, as did birds. His youthful bird journals contain the dates of observations including the weather, time of day and place of sighting for each outing. While in high school he worked at his father's Durham Dairy Products Company cleaning tanks and driving for deliveries.
Bart graduated from Durham High School in 1950. He received his BA with Honors in Zoology from Cornell University in 1954 and his MD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1958. Bart completed a rotating internship at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at University Hospitals of Cleveland in 1963.
Bart's thirty-five year career combined medical practice, teaching in obstetrics and gynecology, and fetal physiology research. Following the completion of his residency, he received a postdoctoral fellowship at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and Johns Hopkins University. His research in the Carnegie Department of Embryology addressed the circulation of blood in the placentas of Rhesus monkeys in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Ramsey, who remained a lifelong friend. Their research involved following the flow of maternal blood into and out of the placenta with the help of the radiology department at Johns Hopkins Hospital. His one year fellowship grew into two because, as Bart put it, the more they did the more they wanted to do, and they had not yet done much on the fetal side of placental circulation. Bart was certain that understanding placental blood flow in the Rhesus monkey would lead to benefits in clinical obstetric practice. He continued his work with Dr. Ramsey as a Visiting Investigator at the Carnegie Institution until 1971. While there, he surpervised the primate breeding colony. When one tiny monkey was rejected by its mother, Bart's family gained a pet named Timothy.
In 1965, Bart joined the OB-GYN faculty of the Medical College of Georgia, becoming an Associate Professor in 1968. He continued his research in uterine blood flow and contractility. While in Augusta, Bart began a longtime love of sailing. He raced his Y-flyer in local regattas, built a Peanut sailboat dubbed "Good Grief" and made sure his children could sail the family Sunfish.
Bart moved to the University of Southern California in 1969 and was promoted to professor in 1975. He continued his teaching and research interests at the Los Angeles County - USC Medical Center Women's Hospital until 1977. Scientists and students from the United States, The Netherlands and Japan trained in Bart's fetal physiology research lab. He encouraged a global family cohesiveness among lab personnel by organizing monthly potluck dinners, each with a different international menu theme.
West coast living was prime for sailing when time allowed. Bart kept a sailboat at Marina Del Rey, sailed along the coastline and out to Catalina Island, and joined friends in the Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race.
Travel became part of Bart's career. He attended meetings and visited colleagues in North and South America, Europe, Korea, Japan and the South Pacific. In 1973, he spent three months as a Visiting Professor at Saigon Medical School, South Vietnam through an American Medical Association program. These encounters enhanced his interest in different cultures and their medical practices, and his travel notes were filled with careful observations on customs and colloquialisms, weather, foods, transportation ease (or dis-ease), sights and sounds. Always, birds observed were added to his birding life list.
The journal of Bart's first trip to Amsterdam includes a note that he felt at ease and welcome there and would love to return to The Netherlands for an extended visit...and so he did. After a sabbatical leave from the University of Southern California in 1977, he joined the faculty of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at the Catholic University and St. Radboud Hospital in Nijmegen for six and a half years. In addition to teaching, research in fetal physiology and behavior, and a clinical obstetrics practice, he served on thesis committees or as a promoter for 13 doctoral candidates. Bart also served as a member of the Working Group on Developmental and Aging of the Nervous System and Behaviour for ZWO-FUNGO (The Netherlands, 1979-84), the Committee on Perinatal Monitoring of the Commission of European Communities (1979-84), and as chairman of the Working Group on Description and Evaluation of Cardiotocograms of the European Communities (1979-84). He was a Founding Member and Chairman of the Dutch Perinatal Biology Study Group (1981-84). The Netherlands was a second home for Bart; many colleagues and friends remain there today.
Bart became a member of the faculty of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Wisconsin in 1985 and was Department Chair from1985 to 1992. Although he retired from the UW in 1998, he remained involved with resident and student medical education until just a few years ago.
His work in fetal physiology led him to clinical fetal antenatal testing, stress and non-stress monitoring, fetal kick counts and ultrasound observations of fetal well-being and behavior. His research resulted in the publication of 85 articles in peer-reviewed journals, contributions of chapters to ten professional books, nine student teaching units and four motion pictures plus numerous published abstracts and opinions.
Bart served as an oral examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology certification exams (1976-77 and 1987-92). He served on the editorial boards of several professional journals and was a member of the board of directors for the California Consortium for Nurse Midwifery. He enjoyed memberships in many professional organizations including the Continental Gynecologic Society, Fetal and Neonatal Physiological Society, Society for Gynecologic Investigation, Wisconsin Association for Perinatal Care, and the Wisconsin Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
In recognition of Bart's commitment to medical education and research, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Wisconsin has established the Chester B. Martin, M.D. Training Program Award. This award, to be determined by those in training, will be given to the faculty or staff member who has most inspired their career.
Bart maintained his lifelong passion for birds to the end. His family, friends and fellow ornithologists recount many hours spent bird watching with him in the backyard or along the back roads of Wisconsin. He eagerly joined friends for the annual Christmas Bird Count, some years sighting in as many as five different counts. He spent two days a week participating in Project Feeder Watch to help with bird research and conservation for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology ( www.feederwatch.org ).
In addition to birding and traveling professionally and with the UW Medieval Studies group, he held a penchant for classical music and the Madison Symphony Orchestra, humor, word puzzles, and mysteries and spy novels (especially those by Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and John Le Carr�).
Bart is survived by his wife, Barbara (Hertzler); two children (from his first marriage), Barton S. Martin of Lewis Center OH and Margaret M. (Lee) Firebaugh of Dunwoody GA; two grandchildren, Ariel L. and Owen S. Firebaugh of Dunwoody GA; brothers, Joseph P. Martin of Durham NC and the Honorable John C. (Margaret) Martin of Raleigh NC; and sisters, Mary Blackwell (Charles) Green of Statesville NC and Margaret M. Conley of Wilmington NC; brother-in-law, Thomas C. Fisher III of Jasper GA, sisters-in-law, Linda Pierard of Melbourne, Australia and Suzanne (Dan) Hertzler Scarsella of Granger IN; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his sister Eleanor M. Fisher.
A private burial was held May 29 at Natural Path Sanctuary in Verona WI; a Life Celebration for Bart will be held later this summer. Much appreciation from his family goes out to the loving staff at Agrace Hospice Care.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Cornell (University) Lab of Ornithology ( https://secure3.birds.cornell.edu ) or Agrace Hospice Care ( http://www.agrace.org ).