ANZACA - Obituaries

From IFAA President, Helen Nicholson.

It is with sadness that we mark the death of Emeritus Professor Stephen Carmichael on 30th August 2025. Stephen was a passionate member of the Anatomy community and played an active role in the life of the IFAA. He was a long serving member of the Federative International Committee for Anatomical Terminology (FICAT – now FIPAT) and was Vice President of the IFAA until 2019.

Stephen began his academic career at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where he majored in Biology. He then moved to Tulane University to study for a PhD. In 1971 he took up an anatomy teaching position at West Virginia University before moving to The Mayo clinic in 1982 where he held a number of positions including Associate Professor, Chair of the Department of Anatomy and Professor of Orthopedic Surgery.

Stephen’s research interests included the adrenal chromaffin cell as a model neuron, and he published more than 160 papers and authored 7 books on this topic plus one book on climbing Mount Kilimanjaro! His teaching interests included gross, developmental and microscopic anatomy.

Stephen was the recipient of several awards including Teacher of the Year at Mayo Medical School, Mayo Clinic Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus Award, R. Benton Adkins, Jr. Distinguished Service Award (AACA), Distinguished Member Award, Anatomical Society of Southern Africa and Volunteer of the Year, "Courage Alpine Skiers".

Stephen was a member of 22 scientific societies including the President of Association of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Neurobiology Chairpersons, the Histochemical Society and the Mayo Chapter of Sigma Xi. He was a founding member of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists and Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Anatomy from 2000-2012. During his time as Editor-in Chief he travelled widely raising the profile of Clinical Anatomy internationally. In recognition of his contribution to the global anatomy community he received honorary awards from many societies including the Turkish Society of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy, the Australian and New Zealand Association of Clinical Anatomists, the Anatomical Association of Southern Africa.

Stephen was a frequent attendee at conferences and went out of his way to provide support and encouragement to many anatomists across the world. His warm friendly personality and his keen sense of adventure meant that he was fun to be with. Stephen contributed much to the anatomy community, and he will definitely be missed.

Our thoughts are with his wife Susan and his family at this sad time.

Professor Colin Wendell-Smith AO (Life membership awarded 2010, deceased 2015)

MBBS, PhD, LlD, Dobst RCOG, FRANZCOG

Background

Professor Wendell-Smith, originally from the UK, served with the British Army as a medical doctor during the Malayan Emergency. He practiced as an OBGYN between 1951-1955 in the UK, Malaya and Singapore before moving to Australia. He was an Associate Professor of Anatomy at the UNSW until 1968 when he accepted the position as Chair of Anatomy in the fledgling medical school at the University of Tasmania (UTAS).

Professor Wendell-Smith was elected President of the Staff Association in 1971 at UTAS and eventually served as Deputy Vice Chancellor. Even after his retirement, he continued to serve the anatomy community as a member of the Federated International Committee on Anatomical Terminology (FICAT) as a delegate of the Anatomical Society of Australia and New Zealand, where he served as secretary.

Major areas of research and scholarship

His legacy includes the establishment of the Family Planning Association (FPA) of Tasmania. He served on the national council of the FPA of Australia from 1972-1989 and in 1989 was the Australian representative on the International Planned Parenthood Federation. He was also an active member of Dying With Dignity until his passing in 2015. In 1991, Professor Wendell-Smith was awarded an Order of Australia for “services to public health”. Even after his passing, Professor Wendell-Smith continues to provide service to health and anatomy education as he has donated his body for anatomical dissection.