Ansel Marion Caine, M.D.

DR. Ansel Marion Caine (1882–1961) (fig. 1) rose to national prominence as a founding father of organized anesthesiology in the early 20th century. During the course of his career, he served as a leader of many organizations that have become the bedrock of the anesthesia community. He was Honorary President of the International Anesthesia Research Society in 1948 and served as a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Board of Directors from 1936 to 1945. A founding member of the Anesthetist Travel Club in 1929, Dr. Caine was instrumental in creating the charter of the Louisiana Society of Anesthesiologists and became its president in 1948. As an inventor, Dr. Caine was recognized nationally as a pioneer in oxygen therapy and is credited as being the first to warm ether vapors for delivery to patients. In his role as an educator, Dr. Caine was the major source of anesthesiology trainees for private practice in the Gulf South before the formation of the Department of Anesthesiology at Charity Hospital in New Orleans in the early 1940s. His contributions to our specialty in the areas of leadership (table 1), invention, and education are numerous, but he is often forgotten in our recorded history.