Dr. Edwin Clarence Cadman, a soft-spoken visionary who transformed the University of Hawaii’s medical school and left a lasting impact on the state, has died at age 70.
Cadman left a top post at Yale New Haven Hospital in 1999 to take the helm of the struggling institution, broadening its mission to embrace research and lifting it to new heights before his time as dean was cut short by the onset of an incurable neurodegenerative disorder.
He died early Wednesday surrounded by family members in Corvallis, Ore. He was afflicted with primary progressive aphasia, which robs people of the ability to articulate thoughts in speech and writing.
“There would be no John A. Burns School of Medicine in Kakaako without Ed’s visionary and inspiring leadership,” former Gov. Ben Cayetano told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Thursday.
Cadman was the driving force behind creating a new and separate campus for UH-Manoa’s medical school, and was thrilled when the governor showed him a potential site on the Kakaako waterfront. The governor asked for one commitment in return, according to the commemorative book, “John A. Burns School of Medicine: 50 Years of Healing in Hawaii,” by Larry Fleece, published this year.
“We build the school for you, you can’t leave!” Cayetano told Cadman. “He promised me he wouldn’t leave,” Cayetano recalled, “and he said, ‘Governor, this will be my life’s last work.’”
In 2005, the same year that the sparkling new Kakaako campus opened, Cadman stepped down as dean of the medical school because of his diagnosis. He remained a professor until his retirement in 2009.
Before making the leap to the Aloha State, Cadman was a professor and served as chairman of internal medicine at Yale University Medical School and as senior vice president for medical affairs and chief of staff at Yale New Haven Hospital.
A physician and accomplished researcher, he envisioned the UH medical school as an anchor for the biotech and life sciences industry and an economic engine for the state, as well as a much-needed school to educate Hawaii physicians.
He lured other prominent researchers to the medical school with his infectious enthusiasm. Among those who followed him to the islands were Dr. Steven Ward, director of the medical school’s Institute for Biogenesis Research, and Dr. Marla Berry, chairwoman of its Department of Cell and Molecular Biology. Ward came from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, which is now part of Rutgers University, while Berry came from Harvard.
“When I met him it was excitement personified,” Ward said. “He was so excited about coming out here. He said he saw the opportunity in building something from a weak point into something very strong.”
Enticed by the prospect, Ward agreed to join him.
“He changed Hawaii forever by building the medical school,” Ward said. “It’s a rare thing to witness in your career, someone who really made a difference. Ed was a visionary. He wasn’t so much of a bean counter, and that got him into trouble sometimes, but he was a visionary.”
He added, “His legacy to us is almost incalculable, I think. He metamorphosed it into a serious biomedical research endeavor, almost single-handedly. It was his vision that led everybody down the path.”
The medical school brought in $58 million in external funds to the state in the past fiscal year, and was recently recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the 19th-best medical school in the country for its primary-care training.
An avid runner, Cadman competed in countless races on both the East and West coasts over his lifetime, setting records in many of them, according to his son Tim.
Given his brilliant mind and athleticism, Cadman’s diagnosis in 2005 came as a terrible shock.
“The disease took its toll — on Ed, and many who loved him,” said Katherine Nichols, a former wife. “But that will never overshadow the impact of his inspiring life. Pivotal research, leadership, teaching and mentoring, and a work ethic coupled with genuine enthusiasm left every university that hired him, and each person he knew, enriched, wiser, better, grateful.
“His effect was sweeping,” she said. “And enduring.”
Cadman was born in Bandon, Ore., on May 14, 1945. He graduated from Stanford University in 1967 and received his medical degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Oregon, now known as Oregon Health & Science University.
After his residency at Stanford University Hospital, he did a fellowship in oncology at Yale University. His first big career role was as director of the Cancer Research Center at the University of California at San Francisco.
He is survived by his mother, Gloria Wilson; sons Tim, Kevin and Brian; and his first wife, Mary Cadman. He was predeceased by his father, Ted Cadman.
Donations in his honor may be made to the University of Hawaii Foundation’s Dr. Edwin C. Cadman Endowed Fund for the study of Neurodegenerative Disorders. No plans for services have been announced.
