Edward Gamaliel Janeway

Biography

Edward Janeway was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, August 31, 1841. He was graduated from Rutgers College in 1860, receiving the degree of B.A. and M.A. from that institution. In 1864 he was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, receiving the degree of M.D. Later in life, the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him, by Rutgers in 1898, by Columbia in 1904, and by Princeton in 1907. While in the medical school in the years 1862 and 1863, he was made acting medical cadet in the United States Army hospitals at Newark, New Jersey.

He began to practise medicine in New York City where he continued and ended his professional career. In 1869, he became professor of pathology and practical anatomy in Bellevue Hospital Medical College, continuing in that capacity until 1876. From 1868 to 1871 he was visiting physician to Charity Hospital. In 1871 he became visiting physician to Bellevue Hospital where he remained for many years. He later became visiting and consulting physician to other hospitals in the city.

In 1874 he was vice-president of the New York Pathological Society. From 1875 till 1882, he was Health Commissioner of New York. In 1876 he was president of the New York Medical Journal Association; his principal contributions to medical literature appear in the medical journals of New York. He was president of the Academy of Medicine in 1897 and 1898 and a trustee from 1899 until 1903.

He died in Summit, New Jersey, on February 10, 1911. He is most famously known for describing non-tender lesions on the palms or soles of individuals with endocarditis; these physical exam findings were later called Janeway lesions in his honor. His son, Theodore Caldwell Janeway was the first full-time professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His grandson Charles Alderson Janeway was an eminent American pediatrician, medical professor, and clinical researcher. Another grandson, Edward G. Janeway, was President of the Vermont Senate.