Dr. Martin L. Dalton

Dr. Martin L. Dalton, Jr., 86, of Macon, died Friday, June 22, 2018. Funeral services will be held at 10:00AM Tuesday, June 26, 2018 at Northminster Presbyterian Church with the Reverend Paul Evans officiating. The family will have a reception following the service at the church. Burial will be private at Riverside Cemetery. The family will greet friends from 5:00PM to 7:00PM Monday, June 25, 2018 at Hart’s at the Cupola, 6324 Peake Road. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Northminster Presbyterian Church.

Dr. Dalton was born in Columbus, Georgia and grew up in Eufaula, Alabama. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Auburn University in 1953 and a medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham in 1957. In 1956, he was married to Alice Read Ligon of Carthage, Tennessee. His surgical residency was accomplished at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, as was his residency in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. Upon completion of his residency training, he entered the United States Army and for two years, was Chief of the Thoracic Section of the Department to Surgery of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, D.C. Following military service, he began the private practice of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery in Lubbock, Texas. From 1973-1983, he was Clinical Professor and Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at the Texas Tech University.

In 1983, Dr. Dalton returned to the University of Mississippi as Professor of Surgery under James D. Hardy and serviced in that capacity until 1990 when he became Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery of Mercer University School of Medicine and the Chief of Surgery and Program Director of the surgery residency at the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, Georgia.

In September 2005, Dalton was appointed Dean of Mercer University School of Medicine and continued to serve as Chair of Surgery until June 30, 2007. He retired as Dean June 30, 2008 and completed a sabbatical December 31, 2008 during which time he authored the History of the Mercer University School of Medicine . On January 1, 2009, he returned to the Mercer Department of Surgery as Associate Program Director of the surgery residency.

Dr. Dalton was a member of the American Surgical Association, the Southern Surgical Association, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the International Surgical Society, the Society for Vascular Surgery and the Southeastern Surgical Congress. He served six years as a Governor-At-Large for Georgia at the American College of Surgeons. He was past president of the Mississippi Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, the Jackson, Mississippi Surgical Society, Lubbock, Texas Surgical Society, the Georgia Surgical Society, the Georgia Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, and the Atlanta Vascular Society. He was a member of the James D. Hardy Surgical Society and a founding member of the Will C. Sealy Surgical Society. He was the author of 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals, six books and four book chapters. He was a member of the team that performed the first successful human lung transplant on June 11, 1963.

The establishment of a Level I trauma center at the Medical Center of Central Georgia was one of Dr. Dalton’s proudest achievements. And the Martin L. Dalton Fellowship in Critical Care bears his name.

Dr. Dalton is survived by his wife of 62 years, Alice Ligon Dalton of Macon; his daughters, Lucy Dalton Uceda and Jenny Dalton Rankin, both of Atlanta; and a grandson, William Dalton Rankin.

Register online at www.hartsmort.com.

Hart’s at the Cupola has charge of arrangements.