Martha Matjasko, MD

Martha Jane Matjasko, M.D., of Baltimore and Frederick, MD, age 68, passed away on January 10, 2011, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Wife of Shao Huang Chiu, MD, retired Frederick orthopedic surgeon, and mother of David Chiu, MD, of Winston Salem, NC, Dr. Matjasko became a national and international leader in the field of anesthesiology at a time when few women were anesthesiologists. Dr. Matjasko retired in 2005 after nearly 20 years as Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Dr. Matjasko was the eldest daughter of the late Louis Jacob Matjasko and the late Ruth Lupton Fowler Matjasko, of Natrona Heights, PA. She was both the president and valedictorian of the class of 1960 at St. Joseph's High School in Natrona, PA, and a 1964 magna cum laude graduate of Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA. In 1968, Dr. Matjasko graduated with numerous honors and awards from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (now Drexel University School of Medicine). Along with awards in surgery and internal medicine, and awards for highest academic standing in all four years of medical school, Dr. Matjasko was awarded the Beatrice Sterling Hollander Memorial Prize for "leadership, high character and creativeness," plus the Rittenhouse Book Store Award for scholarship.

Dr. Matjasko completed her residency and fellowship in anesthesiology at the University of Maryland Hospital, and in 1972 joined the faculty of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
She served as examiner, director and president of the American Board of Anesthesiology, and was very active in the American Society of Anesthesiologists, as well as the American Board of Medical Specialties. She also was involved with the Association of University Anesthesiologists, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the Society of Neurosurgical Anesthesia and Critical Care, and the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Dr. Matjasko was the author of numerous articles, book chapters and abstracts, and a book entitled Clinical Controversies in Neuroanesthesia and Neurosurgery. She also spearheaded the growth of her department's medical research. Before her retirement, the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine ranked seventh in research grants among all public and private medical schools, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Dr. Matjasko and her husband were long-time generous financial supporters of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Recently, Dr. Matjasko endowed two Professorships in Anesthesiology: The Matjasko Professorship for Research in Anesthesiology and The Matjasko Professorship for Education in Anesthesiology.

"M. Jane Matjasko was truly a guiding force in the field of anesthesiology, serving as a tireless advocate for patients, and a selfless and visionary leader, mentor, and professor," said Peter Rock, MD, current Chair of Anesthesiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center. "She was a strong supporter of the medical school and its mission. Dr. Matjasko was a warm, compassionate individual. She was kind to everyone she interacted with-faculty, residents, students, patients, colleagues and staff. However, what she will be most remembered for was her dedication to education—to residents and medical students and their training and education.

"Over her tenure as Chair, she trained over 300 residents and fellows," said Dr. Rock. "Under her leadership, the department developed four medical school courses to introduce students to anesthesiology. She started an anesthesiology externship program for medical students between their 1st and 2nd years of training. Her name will long be synonymous with the practice of anesthesiology at the University of Maryland and throughout the national anesthesiology community."

In addition to her husband and son, Dr. Matjasko is survived by five brothers and sisters: Louis S. Matjasko (Karen) of Rockton, Illinois; Catherine E. Parsons (Gerald) of Lincoln, NE; John J. Matjasko (Caroline) of Charlotte, NC; Susannah E. Shawler (Kurt) of Frederick, MD; and Lenora M. Vesio (Kenneth, MD) of Pittsburgh, PA, along with several nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.

A Memorial Mass will be held Thursday, January 13, 2011, at 11 AM, at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, 118 E. 2nd St., in Frederick, MD with father Richard Gray officiating.

Graveside services will be at St. John’s Cemetery on Friday, January 14, 2011 at 1:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, Dr. Matjasko's family requests that donations be made to the M. Jane Matjasko, MD Endowment for Education and Research in Anesthesiology. Donations should be made payable to Trustees of the Endowment of the University of Maryland, and sent to: University of Maryland School of Medicine, Office of Development, 100 North Greene St. Suite 600, Baltimore, MD, 21298-3520.

www.staufferfuneralhome.com

Arrangements are by Stauffer Funeral Home, Frederick.