The BWH Division of General Neurology is named after Dr. Thomas M. Walshe who headed the division from 2005 until 2018. He grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia, attended medical school at the University of Virginia and completed his medicine residency at Baylor in Houston. He came to Boston for neurology training at Massachusetts General Hospital. After residency Dr. Walshe joined the Neurology staff at the VA Medical Center in Bedford, Massachusetts. He was recruited to become Chief of Neurology at the VA Medical Center, Brockton, Massachusetts. He then joined the faculty of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the consolidated VA Medical Center in West Roxbury and Brockton, Massachusetts.
Dr. Walshe had many professional interests. Early on he authored a book on geriatric neurology. He was also interested in stroke and in the management of chronic neurologic disease. He taught a neuroanatomy course at Harvard Medical School and was a member of the curriculum committee for the neuroscience course. He ran several clinical trials and served two rotations on the Brigham’s IRB.
He later developed an interest in ancient Greece and pursued a sabbatical year in Greek studies at The University of California Berkeley. He authored several original translations of old manuscripts and published a book in 2015 on neurologic concepts in ancient Greek. Later in life he became an accomplished artist.
He was a unique and charismatic personality with many diverse interests. He was a gifted neurologist and the division was named for him to honor his many contributions.
