Dr. Marshall T. Morgan, 73, died Thursday, April 16, in Los Angeles after being ill for several months. A professor of clinical medicine and chief of emergency medicine at UCLA, he was widely recognized by colleagues and students as an outstanding educator and a compassionate physician, who had a calming voice, inviting smile and gentle touch.
In 2007, he received the Sherman M. Mellinkoff Faculty Award, considered by the faculty to be the highest honor awarded by the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, honoring “the ideal of the finest in doctor-patient relationships and medical education,” according to the award’s website.
“Despite working most of his career in tertiary medical centers, Dr. Morgan always had a bit of the country GP in him, putting patients first and technology second,” said Dr. John Mazziotta in announcing Morgan’s death to the campus community. Mazziotta is vice chancellor of UCLA Health Sciences and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine. “His dedication to his patients and his commitment to the academic mission were exemplary.”
Elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Princeton University, Dr. Morgan graduated in 1963, followed by a postgraduate year at the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1968, he received his medical degree at the University of Chicago, where he was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Following graduation from medical school, Dr. Morgan became an intern and internal medicine resident at Harbor General Hospital in Torrance. After completing a two-year fellowship in cardiology at Harbor, he decided to pursue emergency medicine.
In 1974, Dr. Morgan was appointed assistant professor of medicine in the UCLA School of Medicine and acting co-director of the UCLA Emergency Medicine Center. Two years later, he moved to Santa Monica Hospital, first serving as associate director and later as director of the emergency department. In 1982, Dr. Morgan returned to the UCLA campus as medical director of the Emergency Medicine Center.
He was later appointed chief of the Division of Emergency Medicine and served as chief of staff of the UCLA Medical Center from 2006-08 after holding other leadership positions.
Dr. Morgan was a member of the California Medical Association House of Delegates (2008-11) among other CMA councils and panels and served as president of the Los Angeles County Medical Association in 2013-14.
Dr. Morgan is survived by his wife Jean Marie; his children Marshall T. Morgan, Jr., Courtney Morgan-Greene, Shirl Monique Vanderplas, Terrence Watson and John Watson; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Memorial arrangements will be announced at a later date.