His voice largely silenced by a rare condition that has robbed him of his ability to vocalize his thoughts, Ed Cadman spent much of last night listening as a distinguished roll call of friends, colleagues, students and admirers reflected on his accomplishments as the former dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine.

It was Cadman's vision, not his voice, that was repeatedly invoked over the course of a two-hour celebration commemorating his official retirement from the University of Hawaii's medical school this week.

"You need visionaries and you need people to cause it to happen, and he was both," said retired Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals Chief Judge James Burns, for whose father the school is named. "He was a great leader. It's too bad (his term) was so short."

Cadman took over the embattled medical school in 1999 with a stated goal of making it "the best medical school in the world with an Asia-Pacific focus."

Together with former Gov. Ben Cayetano and others seeking to diversify Hawaii's economy through the development of a biomedical industry, Cadman successfully shepherded the founding of the school's new campus in Kakaako and recruited world-class scientists to help establish the facility as a significant research center.

Cadman abruptly step- ped down as dean in 2005 after being diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, a degenerative condition that affects the ability to articulate thoughts in speech or writing.

At last night's gathering, a spry-looking Cadman greeted visitors to the Kakaako campus.

"Everybody who thinks of JABSOM thinks of Ed," said University of Hawaii at Mänoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw. "It was his vision to make this a world-class facility and it was his effort that made it happen."

Medical school student Christian Kikuchi, who is scheduled to graduate this spring, began his medical studies under Cadman's gentle direction. He said Cadman's legacy will be present not just in the laboratories and classrooms of the Kakaako complex but in all the future work of his students.

"He was always so encouraging and warm, so positive in his interactions with us," Kikuchi said. "That's something I'll never forget."