Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing in support of Dr. Philip Leonard’s reinstatement as

practitioner of neurology in the State of Texas. I have known Dr. Leonard

all my life, spending a significant amount of time with him as a youth,

adolescent and adult. He is my cousin on my mother’s side. Philip and I

are one year apart and we have followed each other’s achievements whether

they were social, academic or professional. Because of this, I have

intimate knowledge of him as a person, relative and friend. I can assure

you that Dr. Leonard is an honest, sincere, caring person and one of the

most dedicated people in his profession I have met. From the beginning, he

has steered a true course to neurology, working under University of Texas

neurological researchers. He loves neurology, it is his whole life! He

started his MD work at the same time I started my doctoral work, our lives

have paralleled one another until now. I am still living my boyhood dream

and Philip’s profession has been temporarily interrupted. He deserves your

most serious consideration and fairness. This man has dedicated his life to

the fraternity of healers; do not break that bond on mere suspicion. Philip

will not tell you, but he is totally dedicated to his mother, children and

his family. To the latter, he has spent countless hours genealogically

reconstructing, for the sake of posterity, our family proud heritage, so

deeply lost by the holocaust. Dr. Leonard has a deep sense of

responsibility to his legacy and family name. Restore his name and pride.

Do not injure that further; redeem his rightful respect to your honorable

profession - for him, the community and patients and for medicine. He is a

good doctor, let him do good.


Richard Whitman, Ph.D.


Chief, Lake Michigan Ecological Research Station
United States Geological Survey

6/11/03