The UT Health San Antonio family mourns the passing of Dr. Elliot Weser, a Founding Faculty Member and original Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition.
Dr. Weser grew up in the Bronx and earned his medical degree at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, followed by a medical internship at the University of Washington/Harborview Hospital in Seale and residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. He was accepted for a Gastroenterology fellowship at the New York Hospital of Cornell Medical Center, training years that were interrupted 1961‐1963 by military service, which he carried out in the U.S. Public Health Service at the National Institutes of Health.
After his fellowship, he was recruited to be the third GI faculty member at Cornell under the mentorship of the influential GI pioneer Dr. Marvin Sleisenger, but within a few years he soon felt ready for new challenges. Approached by Dr. Leon Kander, the founding Chairman of Medicine at what would later become the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio, Elliot joined the faculty in 1967, serving as Chief of Gastroenterology for 11 years.
Dr. Weser was an astute clinician who built relationships with the growing new community of private gastroenterologists in San Antonio, many of whom he trained. In 1978 Elliot took on the role of Chief of Medicine at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans’ Hospital. He served veterans in this position for the next 20 years, building a reputation as a shrewd and effective administrator who advocated for the clinical, research and teaching missions.
Upon Dr. Weser’s retirement from the VA in 1998, grateful colleagues contributed to the establishment of an endowed Distinguished Lectureship named in his honor, annually bringing world-class speakers—known as Weser Lecturers—to campus.
Please join us today in honoring Dr. Weser through a gift to his namesake endowment, the Elliot Weser, MD, Lecture Series. We thank you in advance for your gift or pledge to help this fund grow and keep his memory close to our hearts.
If you would like to make a gift by check, please send it to the Office of Institutional Advancement, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive MC 7835, San Antonio, TX 78229. Please make all checks payable to UT Health San Antonio and include "Weser Lecture" on the memo line.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Philip Garza, Senior Director of Development, at (210) 567-2598.