Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 24, 2004|Volume 33, Number 4

In Memoriam: Dr. Richard H. Greenspan, noted radiologist

A memorial service will be held on Monday, Oct. 4, for Dr. Richard H. Greenspan, an internationally renowned radiologist and former dean of clinical affairs at the School of Medicine, who died on Feb. 28 of Alzheimer's disease.

The service will take place at 11 a.m. at Battell Chapel, corner of Elm and College streets. A reception will follow at the Graduate Club, 155 Elm St.

Dr. Greenspan specialized in the diagnosis of diseases and injuries to the chest through radiological techniques. He was the first chair of Yale's Department of Diagnostic Radiology and helped plan Yale's Magnetic Resonance Center.

Born in New York City on April 25, 1925 to Benjamin and Sara Greenspan, Richard H. Greenspan earned his undergraduate degree from Columbia College in 1944 and his M.D. degree from the Syracuse University College of Medicine in 1948. He completed his internship at the Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago and worked in the hospital's gastrointestinal research department. He was a resident in internal medicine at the University of Minnesota from 1950 to 1952.

Following a tour of duty with the U.S. Air Force (where he reached the rank of captain), Dr. Greenspan returned to the University of Minnesota Hospitals in 1954 for training and in 1957 became an instructor and later an assistant professor in the radiology department there. He joined the Yale faculty as an assistant professor of radiology in 1960 and became a full professor in 1964. In 1968, he moved to the University of California in San Francisco, where he was director of thoracic imaging and professor of radiology. He returned to Yale in 1973 and served as chair of the diagnostic radiology department from 1973 to 1986, when he was appointed to a newly created position of associate dean for clinical affairs at the School of Medicine. He served in that role until 1991 and became a professor emeritus in 1994. He retired from active practice in 1999.

The author of more than 100 scientific articles and numerous book chapters, Dr. Greenspan was honored with numerous awards for his contributions to radiology and by his students and medical residents for his skills as a teacher and mentor. His honors include a Gold Medal from the Association of University Radiologists. He was awarded a National Science Foundation Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship and was named a Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Faculty Scholar.

Dr. Greenspeen served as editor-in-chief of Investigative Radiology and was a former president of the Association of University Radiologists. He was a founding member and president of the Fleischner Society, which fostered research and teaching by specialists in chest diseases and injuries. He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American College of Radiology and many other scientific and medical societies.

The Yale radiologist was an avid violinist and music lover who performed in many groups with colleagues, his students or trainees, his children, and, more recently, his grandchildren. He was an active member of the board of directors of the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven.

Dr. Greenspan is survived by his wife, Lydia; his sons, Daniel and Benjamin Greenspan; his daughters, Helen Greenspan and Martha Fiellin; his daughters-in-law, Mili and Carol; and his four grandchildren, Maya and Nina Fiellin, Lena Greenspan and Samuel Greenspan.

Contributions in Dr. Greenspan's memory may be made to the scholarship fund of the Neighborhood Music School, 100 Audubon St., New Haven, CT 06510.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Grant to support research on role of viruses in cancer

Series honors graduation of Yale's first Chinese student 150 years ago

Program marks 35th anniversary of Afro-American Cultural Center

Study: Recreational gambling can be good for seniors' health

Yale launches $1 million United Way drive

Symposium to explore past and future of suburbanization

Event honors late historian of American South

New bioscience company at Science Park offering . . .

Exhibit showcases work of long-ignored landscape artist

Mayhew lauded for his studies of party politics

Congress' only Holocaust survivor to discuss . . .

Noted playwright to speak about his life, Jewish religion

Prize-winning poet Adrienne Rich will read from her work

Older marathon runners are making greater strides . . .

Cultivating a culture of trust was topic of inaugural conference

Dwight Hall interns devote the summer to causes in New Haven

Reimbursements now available through direct deposit

IN MEMORIAM