M. Stephen (STEVE) MAHALEY, JR., was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, December 18, 1932. He attended Charlotte College (now The University of North Carolina at Charlotte) and was graduated from Wake Forest University (B.S., 1954). He received both his M.D. and Ph.D. (Anatomy) in 1959 from Duke University. He served an internship in general surgery (1949-1960) and a residency in neurological surgery (1960-1965) at Duke University Medical Center. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha and received the Borden Undergraduate Research Award in Medicine, a National Institutes of Health Predoctoral Fellowship and the American Academy of Neurological Surgeons Resident's Award for research. Dr. Mahaley was appointed Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and of Anatomy in 1965 at Duke University Medical Center and promoted to Associate Professor in 1975. In 1977, he became Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Neurological Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH).
In 1986, he accepted the positions of Professor of Surgery and Director of the Division of Neurological Surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). At UNC-CH and later at UAB, he established major brain tumor treatment and research programs.
Dr. Mahaley's research interests focused on laboratory and clinical investigation of malignant intracranial tumors and his research accomplishments pioneered the fields of immunobiology and immunotherapy of brain tumors. Dr. Mahaley published more than 165 important scientific papers, reviews and book chapters, including the first comprehensive compilation and analysis of all reported modalities of therapy for malignant glioma.
Dr. Mahaley was active in national neurosurgical societies with numerous professional responsibilities including: North Carolina Neurosurgical Society (President, 1975-1976) AANS (Board of Directors, 1981-1985); Congress of Neurological Surgeons (Chairman, Continuing Education Subcommittee I, 1976-1979; Southern Neurosurgical Society (Secretary, 1979-1982; President, 1983-1984); American Academy of Neurological Surgery (Executive Committee, 1980-1981; American Board of Neurological Surgery (Secretary-Treasurer, 1983-1987), and Member of Editorial/Advisory Boards of: Contemporary Neurosurgery, Surgical Neurology, Journal of Clinical Neuro-Ophthalmology.
In 1989, Dr. Mahaley resigned most of his professional commitments and retired to his mountain home in Maggie Valley, NC to enjoy his family and to pursue numerous interests, including birding, hiking and writing. He died March 8, 1992 and is survived by his wife of 36 years, Jane, their five children, Rhett, Stephen, Rebecca, David and Lee and three grandchildren.