By Kate Hogan

Whether spinning records or holding a scalpel, VCU orthopedic surgery resident Dr. Matthew Weber (‘10) has always found rhythm in the worlds he inhabits. At Collegiate, Weber was known for his keen ear and passion for music, writing concert and album reviews for this very publication. While his journey has taken him far beyond what was, at the time, still a printed magazine, music continues to be a steady presence in his life, even throughout undergrad, medical school, and now residency. 

Weber’s love for music and vinyl records has never been about prestige or collection. “I just like the way I feel when I listen to it, and it’s all mood-based,” he explained. His taste is eclectic, ranging from rock to EDM (electronic dance music), but really is “all over the spectrum.” 

During his time at Stanford, he spent time as a DJ, and EDM remains tied to those memories. When Dr. Weber hears EDM, he reminisces about that “fun time” in his life. Dr. Weber even listens to EDM sometimes while studying. “It just energizes me,” he said. 

While many collectors are careful to keep their vinyl records sealed and in pristine condition, Dr. Weber is the opposite; he buys albums to enjoy. “I like to listen to vinyl instead of keeping them sealed,” he remarked. When asked what record he was most proud to have in his collection, he mentioned one with both musical and sentimental value, and the only exception to this rule. “My uncle had a sealed copy of one of The Doors’ albums, Morrison Hotel, that he got back in the 70s or 80s, and he just kept it sealed. Since he kept it sealed, and then he gave it to me, I feel like I don’t want to open it and listen to it. But that one, that’s a nice thing to have in my collection.”

Dr. Weber speaking at the Upper School Cum Laude induction assembly in spring 2024. Photo credit: Jimmy Dickinson.

Halfway through the first semester of his freshman year at Collegiate, the record skipped. At age 15, Dr. Weber was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, an “unexpected” force that “derailed everything” and caused him to step away from a typical high school experience. 

However, Collegiate “was uniquely great about keeping things going.” Long before the era of Zoom classes, his teachers found ways to adapt. “Teachers would come to my house and give me in-person lessons.” Former Upper School chemistry teacher Susan Fourness-Ewell “would bring lab equipment and chemicals to my house so I could do experiments. For English, people would come to my house and talk through books with me.” 

By the spring of his Sophomore year, Dr. Weber was back at Collegiate full-time, in remission, and determined to reclaim a sense of normalcy. 

Dr. Weber fondly remembered retired Upper School biology teacher Ann Griffin: “She was just a really kind and generous person, but also celebrated and rewarded hard work, just a great person to have as a mentor.” 

He also credited former Upper School English teacher and theater director Ted Shaffner for his “radical approach to teaching religion and world mythology” in an English setting.

As far as current teachers and faculty, Dr. Weber brought up two familiar faces: Upper School English teacher and Match advisor Vlastik Svab and Head of Upper School Patrick Loach. Dr. Weber appreciated Svab for bringing humor into the classics in his Sophomore English class. 

When asked about Dr. Weber, Svab shared that he “was a great student whose Freshman year challenges helped him approach the rest of high school with maturity and grace.” Svab also mentioned their shared love of music: “We also had some opportunities to play music together, which shows just how varied his interests are.”

Dr. Weber (far right) playing guitar at a school event in 2010, with (left to right) David Crutcher (’13) on keyboard, Vlastik Svab on bass guitar, and Chris Risch (’11) on drums. Photo courtesy of Matthew Weber.

During Dr. Weber’s time at Collegiate, Loach served as the Assistant Head of Upper School and also taught one history class, which helped Dr. Weber build “not only a really good foundation” for his understanding of the world but also helped him in “conversations about those books and those moments in history.” Dr. Weber added, “If it weren’t taught as well and in an engaging fashion, then I probably would have just forgotten it all.”

One may think Dr. Weber first became interested in medicine because of his cancer, but his passion developed from medical summer camps, and then he “would go back to school and then learn those things in more detail.” 

When the first Iron Man film premiered in 2008, he decided his path would be mechanical engineering. During physics class, Dr. Weber learned about free body diagrams while simultaneously “daydreaming,” wondering things like: “if I were building an exoskeleton, what kind of forces would I have to go through each of these joints, and what kind of motors would I have to put in?” Dr. Weber used school as an outlet to “solidify” his interests “by being in class and learning the principles to think about those things in a more profound way.”

“Why orthopedics?” was an easy question for Dr. Weber to answer. It merged his lifelong love of tinkering with his commitment to patient care. “I was always a guy playing with LEGOs and model kits, and taking things apart and putting them back together,” he shared. In the operating room, he uses “all the same tools I grew up using.” The satisfaction, though, comes from seeing patients healed. “You don’t get that from working on robots,” Dr. Weber said. 

As he works toward a career in hand surgery, Dr. Weber sees teaching as the most meaningful way to make an impact. “If I take care of 10,000 patients, that’s great. But if I teach ten residents how to take good care of 10,000 patients, I’ve multiplied the scope of my impact.” 

His path took him from Stanford, where he earned his undergraduate degree, to Harvard Medical School, and now into orthopedic residency at VCU Orthopedics. Next year he’ll participate in a Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery fellowship at the University of Virginia. Along the way, Dr. Weber’s personal and Collegiate roots stayed strong. He married his high school sweetheart, Collegiate Middle School Spanish teacher Nicole Weber (’10). 

The Webers at their graduation in 2010. Photo courtesy of Matthew Weber.

For Dr. Weber, success hasn’t been defined by one “I made it” moment, but by steady resilience. From struggling to match into orthopedics on his first try, to later publishing award-winning research, he values persistence. 

One of Dr. Weber’s favorite memories at Collegiate was giving his Senior Speech, an experience he described as “the culmination of all your time at Collegiate.” When it was finally his turn, “after seeing so many of them,” giving his speech felt like a milestone. “I don’t even remember what my speech was on,” Dr. Weber admitted, “but I remember standing at the podium and thinking ‘This is it, I’ve arrived at my big moment.” 

Yet, even in that moment of proclaimed arrival, Dr. Weber sees life as an ongoing journey rather than a finished product. “I don’t think there will ever be a point where I really say I have made it, because there’s always something to strive for,” he reflected.