Cornelius “Skip” Granai III, MD, 71, died June 28. He was a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and founding director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Women & Infants Hospital.
A native of Vermont, Dr. Granai earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and medical degrees at the University of Vermont. He completed a residency in ob/gyn at Tufts and a fellowship in gynecological oncology at New
England Medical Center.
Dr. Granai held faculty appointments at Tufts and Harvard Medical School and was associate director of gynecologic oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1989, he came to Providence to establish the Program in Women’s Oncology at Women & Infants, where he became the director of Women’s Oncology and executive chief of Oncology for Care New England. Dr. Granai guided the development of an innovative, patient-centered program that emphasized the importance of the arts and embraced the use of complementary practices to ease patient suffering. He served as director of the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Program at Brown/Women & Infants, shaping the careers of a generation of caregivers and leaders in women’s oncology.
Throughout his career, Dr. Granai received many honors, including the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Cancer Society, and the Kaali Award, which he received in Hungary for his “invaluable and lasting contribution in gynecologic oncology and integrative care, for his motivational speeches worldwide, and for his passionate humanism.”
Dr. Granai is survived by his partner, Ann Kirby; four children; five grandchildren; two sisters; and many nieces, nephews, and friends, including his faithful dog. Memorial contributions may be made to the Skip Granai Endowed Lectureship at the Women & Infants Foundation or to the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine Medical Alumni Association Scholarship Fund.
