Dr. Frank Reilly

After graduation, I attended The Ohio State University where I received an B.S. Degree in Zoology. In 1971, I moved from Columbus to Cincinnati, OH and enrolled in the Ph.D. program of the Anatomy and Cell Biology Department, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati (UC). I started my research/teaching careers in 1975 by being appointed Assistant Professor of Anatomy, College of Medicine, UC. I worked in the department for 3 years. In 1978, I received and took a job offer at the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, College of Medicine, West Virginia University, where I retired as Professor Emeritus in 2011 after serving as a faculty member for another 34 years.

During my 37 working years, I was blessed by an exciting research career in the field of Microcirculation. This resulted in the training of 21 Ph.D./M.D. graduate and 29 undergraduate students in my Microcirculatory Research Laboratory. Together we studied blood flow and healing in numerous organs in health and disease, i.e., spleen, liver, skeletal muscle, and skin. Our research was published in over 60 peer-reviewed journals.

Concurrently, I was a passionate teacher of Human Anatomy and Neurobiology. For the entire 37 years, I taught first-year Medical students. During the last 8 years prior to retirement, I also taught Head and Neck Anatomy to first-year Dental Students. As a teacher, I pursued my research interests of integrating computers and educational multimedia into the Medical/Dental Curriculums. This pursuit resulted in numerous institutional teaching awards and another 40 peer-reviewed publications in Anatomy Journals and the AAMC’s MedEdPortal for world-wide, online distribution to professional students.

I have been married for 44 years, but not to the same woman! After 20 years of marriage my first wife died, so that I became a widower for about 4 years. In 1993, I married Sally Lynn Hedrick—the love of my life! My marital relationships have netted a son, a stepdaughter, and 3 grandsons. They are our pride-and-joy! My wife and I split our busy time between Morgantown, WV and Honeymoon Island, Dunedin, FL. We love to visit with our family, as I still have 2 brothers in Columbus, OH, while the remainder of the family resides in Orlando and Odessa FL.

I enjoy life with my retired wife, family, and friends. We are avid travelers, visiting Europe, the Orient, Canada, New England, Western and Northwestern USA, many times. In WV and FL, we enjoy food, exercise, biking, and boating. Moreover, I’m a founding member of the Mon Valley Sports Car Club of WV. Since retirement, my wife and I have enjoyed track time, rallies, autocrosses, car shows, and scenic drives with the Club enthusiastically driving our Honda S2000.

So, retirement and life have been grand! We are blessed with good health and gratitude in a loving family. We need nothing more! I’m excited to share my happiness at our 50th High School Reunion. Fifty years—I can’t believe it!! Where has time gone? I look forward to seeing you ALL on July 1st (God willing)! So, stay well my friends and fellow graduates!!