Michael B. Mayor

Overview

**In Memoriam**

Dr. Michael B. Mayor, MD, died peacefully at Kendal on March 31, 2025 at the age of 87. He was born on October 29, 1937 in Bryn Mawr, PA to Brantz Mayor and Evelyn Griswold Mayor. Along with his sisters, Harriet, Kate, and Susan, he was raised on a farm in Mt. Kisco, NY. At the age of seven, he suffered the sudden death of his mother due to a skiing accident—an event that led to his stepmother, Ana Maria Funk, and half-siblings, Maria and Archer, entering his life. Michael was graduated from the Harvey School and then from Deerfield Academy in 1955. At Deerfield, x-rays revealed a tumor on his femur, requiring an above-the-knee amputation. He went on to attend Yale and earned his bachelor’s in electrical engineering in 1959.

Following advice from friends to consider going into medicine, Michael took a job testing fecal samples at St Luke’s hospital. In spite of the unsavory tasks, he found medical work fascinating and returned to Yale to complete the courses needed to be admitted to Yale School of Medicine. He received his MD in 1965. While at St. Luke’s, Michael also learned to downhill ski on one leg with a pair of outrigger poles given to him by Norwegian  alpine ski racer Stein Eriksen. On a ski trip, he met the love of his life, Elizabeth ("Lili") Fenner Rowland. Lili and Michael were married in 1961 and had four children during his residency in Cleveland, OH. In 1971, they moved the family to Hanover, acquired a dilapidated house on Occom Ridge, and turned it into the home they would enjoy for the next thirty years. After that, they built and moved to their second Hanover home on Three Mile Road near the 92-acre parcel that Lili, Michael, and John Niles donated to the Hanover Conservancy in 2015, called the Mayor-Niles Forest.

Michael began his surgical training under Charlie Herndon at the University Hospitals of Cleveland, where he assisted in and then taught the first ever hip joint replacements in the US. An NIH fellowship in bioengineering then solidified his interest in research. He then became an orthopaedic surgical attending at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital and Hitchcock Clinic, joined the faculty at Dartmouth Medical School, and co-founded the Orthopaedic Device Retrieval Program at Dartmouth Biomedical Engineering Center (DBEC) with Thayer School of Engineering professor John P. Collier.

As a surgeon for over 40 years, he replaced an estimated 3000 hips and 4000 knees. During that time, he collaborated with Professor Collier to develop a new porous coating for orthopaedic implants and to implement DBEC’s program for retrieval analysis to study these devices and provide direct feedback to the manufacturers and implanting surgeons. During Michael’s nearly 50-year commitment to this program, it became and remains one of the largest of its kind in the world with over 20,000 retrievals and counting (including his own knee implant retrieved after his death per his request). Its findings have led to critical advances in the production, design, and materials of orthopaedic implants, resulting in profound quality-of-life improvements for millions of patients worldwide. 

After the loss of his leg, Michael continued his love of athletics through hiking, skiing, kayaking, and tree climbing, and inherited a passion for photography and woodworking from his father. He enjoyed perching atop a John Deere tractor or Argo amphibious vehicle, and produced an ample supply of firewood through countless NH winters. He loved animals and helped care for a parade of family pets. But most of all, he loved spending time with his family, finding great joy in witnessing their journeys and growth. He is survived by his wife, Lili, his four children, Rowland, Anna Hyatt, Sloane, and Catha, and ten grandchildren.  

Per his wishes, he had a natural/green burial on family land. A celebration for the wider community will be held at a later time. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to a humane society of choice.

Research Interests

Adult reconstructive orthopaedic surgery; arthroscopy; biomechanics; biomaterials; design and analysis of orthopaedic prostheses; study of joint implant/host interfaces via retrieval analysis

Education

• BE, Electrical Engineering, Yale University 1955
• MD, Yale University 1965

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