John “Jack” Culbertson, Jr. (’78M), an Emory School of Medicine plastic surgeon and associate professor, died in a single-engine plane crash Monday in Dawson County, Ga. He was 62.

According to a preliminary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report, Culbertson was the pilot and sole occupant of his Piper PA46 when it crashed in a field by Ga. 400 near Dawsonville.

Culbertson taught in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in addition to serving as the chief of plastic surgery at Emory University Hospital Midtown and Grady Memorial Hospital, according to the School of Medicine website.

According to WSB-TV, a 911 caller reported hearing Culbertson’s plane go into a dive, recover briefly and then crash into a wooded area. Culbertson’s flight departed Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey and was headed toward DeKalb-Peachtree Airport when air traffic controllers lost contact with the pilot shortly after 7 p.m., according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. FAA records also show Culbertson was involved in another crash with the same plane in early 2000 outside Corning, Ark. when the engine briefly lost power.

Culbertson was born July 23, 1951 and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1974 before attending the Emory University School of Medicine. He had been a faculty member at Emory since 1986, having also graduated from the School of Medicine in 1978 and undergoing his residency in plastic surgery at Emory from 1982 to 1984.

Many friends and colleagues remember Culbertson as dedicated to both his city and his patients. Culbertson contributed to numerous publications and textbooks and lectured nationally and internationally, according to a Dec. 5 University press release. In addition, he traveled to Navajo reservations for many years to provide instruction on surgery.

“Jack was a very special person,” Grant Carlson, Wadley R. Glenn Professor of Surgery at the School of Medicine and chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery, told WSB-TV. “He took care of people other doctors couldn’t.”

In a Dec. 5 University press release, Emory’s Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Wright Caughman said: “On behalf of all of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center faculty and staff, I want to extend our deepest sympathies to Dr. Culbertson’s family. We do not know the circumstances surrounding the crash and the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.”

According to an obituary on Legacy.com, Culbertson was a teacher in all respects of life, sharing his knowledge and passion for the world with his friends and family.

“Having known Jack from his many trips Shiprock, New Mexico to work with the Navajo, I will always remember his enthusiasm for life, his humor, his generosity and his desire to teach and to learn,” wrote Shelly Ahmann, an Atlanta surgeon, in his guest book on Legacy.com. “My thoughts are with his family during this difficult time. He will be greatly missed by many.”

In addition to flying, Culbertson enjoyed skiing, fly-fishing, ice hockey, carpentry and mountaineering.

Culbertson is survived by his wife Elizabeth; his children, Kirby Steele Culbertson, John “Jake” Harrison Culbertson III and Katharine Louise Culbertson; his mother, Grace Culbertson; and his sisters, Marian Burke and Katharine Prentice.

–By Stephen Fowler

Stephen Fowler
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Stephen Fowler 16C is the political reporter at Georgia Public Broadcasting, the statewide NPR affiliate in Georgia. He graduated from Emory with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and covered the central administration and Greek Life for the Wheel before serving as assistant news editor, Emory Life editor and the Executive Digital Editor from 2015-16.