Dr. Tillye Cornman, 82, a physician with the Clinical Center's Rehabilitation Medicine Department, died Feb. 2 of congestive heart failure.
Dr. Cornman was born in New Orleans. She trained as a nurse before earning a medical degree at Louisiana State University in 1943. She completed an internship at Metropolitan Hospital, and a residency at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. She was listed in the second edition of "Who's Who of American Women."
In 1951 at age 34, Dr. Cornman was working in private practice in New Orleans when she was shot by a patient who was undergoing treatment for mental illness. The attack left her paralyzed from the waist down. During her rehabilitation, she developed an interest in physical medicine and rehabilitation. She received training as a physiatrist, and subsequently joined the Clinical Center's Rehabilitation Medicine Department in 1954. She was a diplomate of the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Cornman retired in 1988, but served as a consultant until 1996. She was a longtime resident of the NIH Apartment House, until it was demolished last year.
Colleagues remember Dr. Cornman as a dedicated and caring member of the staff. "Tillye was a staunch patient advocate," said Dr. Lynn Gerber, chief of the Rehabilitation Medicine Department. "She was very well liked and respected by her patients, who noticed that she was able despite her own disability."
Dr. Cornman was also an advocate for causes she believed in. According to her daughter, Joan Uhlig, in the 1960s she challenged a law stating that people who lived on federal property could not vote, and she won before the Supreme Court. When she attempted to see the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives and found that the building was not wheelchair accessible, she wrote a letter to then Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and soon received a reply that a ramp had been installed.
Said Dr. Gerber, "I will remember Tillye for her spirit and her commitment. If she felt something wasn't right, she'd try her best to change it. She was a very effective person."
Dr. Cornman is survived by her daughter, five sisters, two grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter.
A memorial service is scheduled for April 6, at 3:30 p.m., in the Chapel on the 14th floor. All are welcome to attend.