Pioneer in male reproduction
To All: It is with sadness that I report the death of Dr. Richard Amelar. Dr. Almelar’s name may not be familiar to fellows trained in male reproduction in recent years, but he was the first urologist to truly confine his entire practice to the study and treatment of male reproduction. He and his partner, Dr. Larry Dubin, were the first to call attention to the absence of fructose from the semen along with the unusually low volume of semen in men with bilateral congenital absence of the vas deferens. Along with Robert Hotchkiss, Ph.D., Dr. Amelar helped develop the histologic classification of testicular biopsies that still is used. Drs. Amelar and Dubin popularized varicocelectomy for the treatment of male infertility. They also were the donors of their silver sperm lapel pin that they gave to many of us who now are older urologists interested in male reproduction. Whatever Dr. Amelar may have said or written always could be trusted to be precisely what his careful studies had revealed. He was a source of inspiration to many of us, who remember him for his kindness and contributions to the field of male reproduction. Arnold Belker, MD Clinical Professor Emeritus Department of Urology University of Louisville School of Medicine Louisville, Kentucky 40202