The second annual Robert L. and Julia D. Grubb Lecture took place on October 30, 2024, with Chad Washington, MS, MD, MPHS, giving the keynote address. Washington is a 2014 WashU Medicine neurosurgery alumnus, and currently serves as the Chair and Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Speaking to a packed room of faculty, medical students, and current neurosurgery residents, the theme of Dr. Washington’s talk focused on learning to fail and failing to learn. In what was often a poignant and emotional speech, Washington used examples from his own life to demonstrate the many lessons he has learned since becoming a neurosurgeon.
The Grubb Lecture was established in 2021 as a forum for alumni of the WashU Medicine neurosurgery residency program to share their career paths with current residents. Grubb was a faculty member in the department from 1973-2008 and wrote the definitive history book about the department – Neurosurgery at Washington University: A Century of Excellence.
