Historical Background

As Dr. Jim Burks relates in the 1956 program, it was suggested at the 1953 meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology that a group of Southern dermatologists consider organizing a dermatopathologic seminar with the Southern Medical Association, similar to the seminar held with the meeting of the Pacific Dermatologic Association.  Dr. Burks became the leader of this effort to organize such a seminar, one of the first ever organized in this specialty as a continuing education program.  In introducing Dr. Walter Nickel as the guest in 1958, Dr. Burks stated of Dr. Nickel “the creator and director of the CPC of the PDA for 10 years is largely responsible for the creation of this, the Zola Cooper Seminar.”  

The 1954 meeting of the Southern Medical Association was scheduled in St. Louis.  Dr. Burks sought the help of Zola K. Cooper, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pathology and Assistant Professor of Medicine (Dermatology) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and Consultant Pathologist to the Barnard Free Skin and Cancer Hospital.  (She also served on the faculty of the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine from 1946 - 1949).  Although Dr. Cooper was not a physician, she had become an expert in the knowledge and diagnosis of skin diseases.  She was one of the foremost authorities in Dermatopathology.  She devoted much of her time in 1953 and 1954 to the planned Seminar and was to have served as the first guest moderator.  She was found dead in her room on October 23, 1954.  Upon her untimely death, Dr. Hamilton Montgomery was selected to be on the panel of the first meeting in 1954.  Others participating included Dr. Francis Lynch, the guest dermatologist of the Section on Dermatology; Dr. John H. Lamb of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Dr. Francis A. Ellis of Baltimore, Maryland; Dr. Morris Waisman of Tampa, Florida; Dr. Joseph M. Hitch of Raleigh, North Carolina; and Dr. Ed Cawley of Charlottesville, Virginia.

Dr. James W. Burks, III, eminent dermatologist, pioneer dermatologic surgeon, member of the faculty of Tulane University School of Medicine, teacher, friend, and devoted deep-sea fisherman, was the founder, and then the Director and Moderator of the Zola Cooper Seminar for the remainder of his life.  He died after fighting a blue marlin on a deep-sea expedition on July 27, 1978.  Jim had many interests, but he remained dedicated to the Zola Cooper Seminar.  He co-moderated every meeting until his passing, remained firmly but gently in control as moderator, and always finished the discussion of cases on time.  He was generous in giving credit to others, careful to enroll the aid of worthy contributors, and dedicated to maintaining the goal of the Seminar as a practical continuing educational exercise for the practicing physician.  His associates, Dr. John Yarborough, Dr. Gary Brown, and Dr. George A. Farber contributed significantly as well.  Virtually every prominent name in Dermatopathology has participated at least once in this Seminar.  After Dr. Burks’ death, the name of the Seminar was revised to the “James W. Burks-Zola Cooper Memorial Clinicopathologic Seminar” under the direction of George A. Farber, M.D.

In 1984, the Seminar was reorganized as a new organization, continuing the affiliation with the Southern Medical Association.  For 10 years it was presented as the Clinical and Dermatopathologic Seminar.  It is with great pleasure that by general agreement we can again honor the memory and pioneering work of Dr. Zola Cooper by presenting the Seminar as the “Zola Cooper Seminar presented in memory of its founder, James W. Burks, III, M.D.”  Also honored are seven other long-time contributors to the Seminar who have each served significantly in continuing the Burks tradition, four of whom have participated for 35 or more years each.  Dr. Herbert Christianson was a Co-Director and Moderator from 1962 until his death; Dr. Wallace Clark contributed as a key Dermatopathology panel member and “faculty moderator” at a critical time in the development of the Seminar from 1958 - 1973; Dr. Robert G. Freeman began participating in the Seminar in 1959, and he was the President and Director from 1984 - 1994; Dr. Richard J. Reed has been panel member, host, moderator, and significant contributor since 1963; Dr. Morris Waisman was a panelist and Director of the Seminar from its inception in 1954 and was involved until his death; Dr. Marvin E. Chernosky was a long-time contributor, Director, Secretary-Treasurer and moderator from 1984 - 1995; and Dr. Robert Fine has been a generous contributor of cases and knowledge for many years.

The 48th Zola Cooper Seminar was represented in Maui, Hawaii, in January, and the 49th, 50th, and 51st Annual Seminars were presented in conjunction with the Fall meeting of the Louisiana Dermatological Society in New Orleans, Louisiana.  The 52nd, 53rd, and 54th seminars were held in conjunction with the Southern Medical Association in San Antonio, Texas, Charlotte, North Carolina, and New Orleans, Louisiana.  The 55th was held in New Orleans with the combined meeting of Louisiana and Texas dermatology societies.  The 56th was held in conjunction with the Texas Dermatology Society.

In 2014, the board unanimously decided to add Lee Nesbitt’s name to the title of the Zola Cooper Seminar after he passed away unexpectedly during an elective heart surgery.  Lee  T. Nesbitt was a long time contributor to the Seminar and was the chief clinical moderator for many years.  Lee was a true scholar and Southern gentleman who had a keen insight into clinical dermatology that he shared in his characteristic smooth and charming yet firm style that reflected his many years of experience.  He was a “fixture” every year at our Friday practice sessions, our pre-seminar dinner and at the Seminar which he never missed.  While many others who served the Seminar have come and gone, retiring after years of service, Lee’s passing was truly tragic as he was still very active in the Seminar and was prepared to moderate once again that year.  His untimely death was similar to that of our other namesake, Zola Cooper, who also died suddenly while in good health. 

Past Honored Guest Dermatopathologists 

  • Hamilton Montgomery, MD (1954)

  • Marcus Caro, MD (1955)

  • Herman Beerman, MD (1956)

  • J. Walter Wilson, MD (1957)

  • Walter R. Nickel, MD (1958)

  • Walter F. Lever, MD (1959)

  • Hamilton Montgomery, MD (1960)

  • Richard Stoughton, MD (1961)

  • Frederick J. Szymanski, MD (1962)

  • Richard K. Winkelman, MD (1963)

  • Robert W. Goltz, MD (1964)

  • Herman Beerman, MD (1965)

  • Elson B. Helwig, MD (1966)

  • Hermann Pinkus, MD (1967)

  • James H. Graham, MD (1968)

  • Arthur Hyman, MD (1969)

  • Louis Winer, MD (1970)

  • Herbert Z. Lund, MD (1971)

  • Daniel Richfield, MD (1972)

  • Lewis Shapiro, MD (1973)

  • Waine C. Johnson, MD (1974)

  • Robert W. Goltz, MD (1975)

  • Walter R. Nickel, MD (1976)

  • Edward Wilson-Jones, MD (1977)

  • A. Bernard Ackerman, MD (1978)

  • John T. Headington, MD (1979)

  • Loren E. Golitz, MD (1980

  • Amir H. Mehregan, MD (1981)

  • Martin Brownstein, MD (1982)

  • Wilma Bergfeld, MD (1983)

  • Ronald J. Barr, MD (1984)

  • William A. Caro, MD (1985)

  • Richard J. Reed, MD (1986)

  • Antoinette Hood, MD & Evan Farmer, MD (1987)

  • James H. Graham, MD (1988)

  • N. Scott McNutt, MD (1989)

  • W.P. Daniel Su, MD (1990)

  • Kurt Stenn, MD (1991)

  • Clifton R. White, MD (1992)

  • David N. Silvers, MD (1993)

  • Philip LeBoit, MD (1994)

  • Daniel J. Santa Cruz, MD (1995)

  • Hideko Kamino, MD (1996)

  • Raymond L. Barnhill, MD ( 1997)

  • Neal S. Penneys, MD (1998)

  • George P. Lupton, MD (1999)

  • James E. Fitzpatrick, MD (2000)

  • Allan S. Boyd, MD (2001)

  • Lawrence E. Gibson, MD (2002)

  • Thomas D. Horn, MD (2003)

  • Dirk Elston, MD (2004)

  • Joan Guitart, MD (2005)

  • John Maize Sr, MD (2006)

  • Anita Gilliam, MD (2007)

  • Iftikhar Ahmed, MD (2008)

  • Mark Jacobson, MD (2009)

  • Beth Ruben, MD (2010)

  • Mary Stone, MD (2011)

  • Lori Lowe, MD (2012)

  • Adam Rubin, MD (2013)

  • Marty Mihm, MD (2014)

  • Margot Peters, MD (2015)

  • Pedram Gerami, MD (2016)

  • Shawn Cowper, MD (2017)

  • Tammie Ferringer, MD (2018)

  • Soon Bahrami, MD (2019)

  • Lori Prok, MD (2020)

  • Whitney High, MD (2021)

  • Anthony Fernandez, MD, PhD (2022)

Past Charimen, Officers, Moderators, & Panalists

Chairmen: 

  • James W. Burks, III, M.D., Founder and Chariman, 1953 - 1978

  • Herb Christianson, M.D., Co-Director, 1962 - 1983

  • George A. Farber, M.D., Co-Director and Secretary-Treasurer, 1970 - 1983

  • Robert G. Freeman, M.D., President and Director, 1984 - 1994

  • Thomas R. Wade, M.D., Director, 1994 - 1997

  • Clay J. Cockerell, M.D., Director, 1998 - present

Secretary Treasurer

  • James W. Burks, III, M.D., 1953 - 1966

  • John Yarborough, M.D., 1966 - 1969

  • George A. Farber, M.D., 1970 - 1973

  • Gary R. Brown, M.D., 1974 - 1984

  • Marvin E. Chernosky, M.D., 1984 - 1994

  • Lee T. Nesbitt, Jr., M.D., 1995 - 1997

  • Charles V. Perniciaro, M.D., 1998 - 2003

  • Marilyn Ray, M.D., 2003- 2008

  • Tom Davis M.D., 2009-2014

  • Travis Vandergriff 2015-present

Moderators

  • James W. Burks, III, M.D., 1954 – 1978

  • Herbert B. Christianson, M.D., 1962 – 1993

  • George A. Farber, M.D., 1973 – 1983

  • Marvin E. Chernosky, M.D., 1984 – 1998

  • Lee T. Nesbitt, Jr., M.D., 1984, 1988, 1991 – 2004, 2006-2013

  • Kenneth E. Greer, M.D., 1994 – 1998

  • Emily F. Omura, M.D., 1996 – 2000

  • Jack Lesher, M.D., 1999 – 2000

  • Marilyn Ray, M.D., 2001 –2008

  • Ted Rosen, M.D., 2001,2002,2005, 2007

  • Leonard Gately, M.D., 2003 - 2006, 2008, 2012

  • Jaqueline Sasaki M.D. 2010. 2011

  • Charles Perniciaro M.D. 2014-2017

  • Sandra Osswald M.D. 2011- present

  • Travis Vandergrift M.D. 2013-present

Dermatopathology Panelists 

  • Robert G. Freeman, M.D., 1959 – 1996

  • Richard J. Reed, M.D., 1960 – 1996; 2002 - 2003

  • Clay J. Cockerell, M.D., 1997 – 2016, 2018

  • Charles V. Perniciaro, M.D., 2001-2014, 2017

  • Omar Sangueza, M.D. 2002-2003

  • Tom Davis, M.D. 2004-2005, 2007-2015, 2018

  • Mark Cappel, M.D. 2015-2016, 2018