Aronson, Founding Dean Of Medicine at Brown University, Dies at 92

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Aronson, Founding Dean Of Medicine at Brown University, Dies at 92

Dr. Stanley M. Aronson, Founding Dean of Medicine at Brown University
Dr. Stanley Aronson, the founding dean of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University died Wednesday morning, January 28, at the age of 92.

“In conversations with Stan during the last several years, I came to understand how pleased he was with the growth and development of the medical school he did so much to create,“ said Brown President Christina Paxson. “His natural humility prevented him from taking credit, but Brown’s medical school and many of the statewide improvements in medical care delivery that grew along with it began with Stan’s arrival in Providence.”

Aronson, a New York City native, was an accomplished neuropathologist who published more than 400 research papers and made contributions to the development of tests for Tay Sachs disease and muscular dystrophy, among others. In 1969 he accepted a job as chief of pathology at Brown University and The Miriam Hospital.

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Aronson worked tirelessly with then Provost Merton Stoltz and others to build the Brown University School of Medicine. The school launched in 1972 with modest means — 43 faculty members, 16 students, and little research infrastructure — but during his years as dean, 1973-81, Aronson led it through its first accreditation and led the trail of its growth.

The University honored Aronson with a Doctor of Medical Science degree in 2007.

As dean, Aronson created of one of the nation’s first departments of family medicine in 1978. He also started the Early Identification Program, a special route of admission for college students from Rhode Island as well as from Tougaloo College, the historically black college in Mississippi with which Brown has had a 50-year partnership.

Aronson also served as editor of the Rhode Island Medical Journal from 1989 to 1998. In the 1980s he served on the Liaison Committee for Medical Education, the official body that accredits medical schools.

Funeral arrangements are pending.


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