A Moment to Honor a Pedorthic Pioneer ~ Dean Morgan

Dean Morgan, loving husband of Carolyn, a friend and mentor to numerous pedorthists passed away Wednesday, February 13, 2019. He embodied a strength of character and selflessness that inspired everyone he met.

Dean was a very dear friend & I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with him to learn how PFA got started & tales of those early days. In addition to being a PFA president, he was symposium chairman for more than one PFA Dallas symposium. He had the most modern clinical pedorthic facility in the country during the 1980’s.

As a Past-PFA President, both long before and after his presidency, Dean helped forge many of the most significant positive changes in our organization. When PFA was at a low point in the early days, PFA existed in a shoe box on Seymour Lefton’s desk. Through sheer will and determination, PFA remained alive. To honor the dedication and hard work of a pedorthist, Dean created the Seymour Lefton Award. Frequently crisscrossing the country, paying out of his own pocket for the privilege of teaching and sharing pedorthics at educational events, Dean was ultimately awarded PFA’s highest, national honor himself.

Pedorthist & Researcher

He was no stranger to scientific research, Dean participated in a PFA research project with 50 stores across the country reported in the PFA’s first organization publication, Pedoscope, May-June 1980 issue.

In the November-December 1984 issue of Pedoscope, Dean wrote, Calcaneal Apophysitis Treated By Use Of Helfet Heelseats discussing heel inserts and prefabricated orthotics to improve pain scores and dysfunction.

In 1983 Dean was an integral member of a research team with Dr. Wenger (a PFA physician of the year recipient). The study was published in Foot & Ankle International (FAI), is the official journal of the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS). Making Dean the first pedorthist in the country published in a medical journal.

LINK: ~ Foot Growth Rate in Children Age One to Six Years. Dennis R. Wenger, M.D., Donald Mauldin, M.D., Dean Morgan, C.Ped, Et al., Volume 3, Issue 4 Foot Ankle 1983 Jan-Feb;3(4):207-10. doi:10.1177/107110078300300405.

1985 – 1989 Dean worked tirelessly on a long term 3-yr study making him the first pedorthist ever published in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.

LINK: ~ Corrective shoes and inserts as treatment for flexible flatfoot in infants and children. D R Wenger, D Mauldin, G Speck, D Morgan, R L Lieber A 3-year study The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery Published Jul 1989; 71 (6): 800

Teacher & Friend

He always wore loafers, to be ready at a moment’s notice; slipping his shoe off to teach, explain, or share his knowledge of Anatomy, Biomechanics, or Modalities with others. Dean was also instrumental in bringing together regional factions of pedorthists to make PFA stronger.

Today, Pedorthics and PFA stand on the shoulders of such wonderful professionals like Dean Morgan.

~ Shane Hayes, C.Ped Emeritus, PFA past-president

Thank You to Shane Hayes, PFA past-president for this remembrance.

Shane receiving the Seymour Lefton Award in 2007 with
his daughter and PFA past-president, Kristi Hayes. Shane
& Kristi are the ONLY family with two PFA Presidents!