2009 ASCP Master
Richard L. Kempson, MD, MASCP, is Emeritus Professor of Pathology and Co-Director of Surgical Pathology at Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA.
His association with Stanford began in 1968 when he and Dr. Ronald Dorfman were recruited as associate professors to serve as co-directors of Surgical Pathology. Working together, the two established an internationally recognized training program in Surgical Pathology, culminating in the Surgical Pathology fellowship.
Dr. Kempson’s research interests fall into several groups. In gynecological pathology he has had a long-standing interest in uterine mesenschymal proliferations and the use of carefully specified criteria to sort them into managerially relevant groups. His were among the first publications to use mitotic index as a basis for stratifying uterine smooth muscle tumors. In recent years this approach has been expanded to include other morphologic parameters.
On the subject of soft tissue pathology, Dr. Kempson was instrumental in popularizing the unifying concept of fibrous histiocytoma. He has authored classic papers on atypical fibroxanthoma and a number of malignant fibrous histiocytoma variants. He has clarified the diagnostic criteria for fatty tumors. He is the senior author of the Soft Tissue Fascicle. Other interests include breast pathology and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Dr. Kempson has also been instrumental in rethinking some of the foundational issues in diagnostic pathology relating to tumor classification.
Dr. Kempson joined ASCP in 1990, serving on the Practice Pathology Group QM Anatomic Pathology Expert Panel Review from 1994 to 2001. In 2004, he was honored with the ASCP H.P. Smith Award for Distinguished Pathology Educator.
He serves on the editorial board of six pathology journals and is past president of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, the Arthur Purdy Stout Society, the Association of Directors of Anatomic & Surgical Pathology, and the California Society of Pathology.
In 2001, he moved from the Active column to the Emeritus column in the Stanford Pathology Department roster. He continues to teach residents and to participate in the Surgical Pathology consultation service.