John James Cunningham Moore, Jr. – 50th Reunion Essay

John James Cunningham Moore, Jr.

3697 Townley Rd

Shaker Heights, OH 44122

jjcmoore@aol.com

216-906-3563

Spouse(s): Nancy R Moore 1969)

Child(ren): David (1976); Brian (1979); Michael (1982); Katherine (1985)

Grandchild(ren): Regan Moore, Gareth Moore, Sarah Moore, Cecilia Moore, Elouise Moore, Claire Moore, Teo Raux, Charlotte Raux

Education: Yale University BS Physics (1969); University of Virginia, MD (1973)

National Service: Lt, US Navy 69–73

Career: Faculty Member Case Western University School of Medicine, 36yrs, Professor of Pediatrics and Reproductive Biology; Head Division of Neonatology, MetroHealth Medical Center 35 yrs, Researcher in the area of preterm birth, NIH and March of Dimes Funded

Avocations: Piano, Boy Scouts

College: Calhoun (Hopper)

So… as I sit to write this I am asking who will bother reading it. I was not a big man on campus, and only had a few moderately good friends at Yale. I guess I am doing this because I would rather not have a blank spot next to my name and high school photo.

Upon graduation (BS, physics) I became a navy officer. I come from a military family and won a NROTC scholarship that provided tuition and a small stipend in exchange for four years of active duty service. It also robbed me of one course each semester. From perspective of today’s tuition, the navy got an enormous deal, but it did allow me to enter the military on my own terms (avoid Vietnam). I applied for the submarine corps, but after a very interesting interview with Admiral Rickover, head of the Navy Nuclear Power Service (involving me singing), ended on his personal staff. The work was technical (reviewing design drawings for nuclear plant fueling equipment) and dull, but much safer and better than alternatives. I was also able to finish medical school prerequisites.

After the navy, I attended medical school at UVA, and then moved to Pittsburgh for pediatrics residency and then to Cincinnati for a fellowship in newborn intensive care. In my fellowship I embarked on a research career that now focuses on prevention of preterm birth. My first and only “real job” began in 1982 when I joined Case Western Reserve University Medical School and the Neonatology Group at MetroHealth Medical Center, the county-city hospital for Cleveland. In the 36 years since, I rose to professor, became division head of my clinical group, and established an internationally respected research laboratory. I have trained 97 neonatologists, and participated in training hundreds of pediatricians and thousands of medical students. I have been responsible for the care of over 20,000 sick and preterm newborn babies. I published 150 scholarly papers, had five major NIH grants, and became well known internationally among peers in my research area. Many numbers…but I have truly enjoyed my career and do feel I made a difference.

I was very fortunate to meet my wife, Nancy, at Yale. She came to campus as part of the aborted Yale-Vassar merger. We married in 1969 and have four children and eight wonderful grandchildren. All are doing well, which I credit totally to Nancy. Unfortunately, they live in San Francisco, Seattle, and Brussels. My major preoccupation is how to break from current activities, yet not go crazy, and spend more time with them.

I am happy with the life I have lived, although I would have liked more of a role with my children. I view the upcoming end (death) with significant trepidation, as I have never been a man of faith. From a cosmological viewpoint we are totally inconsequential in space and time. Yet some hope for our (my) significance lies in the implausible accident of our existence and the fact we are the soles that make the universe self-aware.