Aronson’s legacy
When my wife, Sandy, and I moved to Providence, one of the warmest welcomes we received was from Dean Stanley Aronson. He and his wife, Gale, took us under their protective wings, into their home and into the Brown medical community. It was immediately clear that we were in the presence of a giant, but one who was not above helping the new guy out.
After Stan passed away in January, one of his former students wrote a tribute that noted, despite Stan’s advancing age, “it seemed like he would be around forever.” In many ways, that’s true; it seemed entirely plausible that though a nonagenarian, Stan would always write his columns for the Providence Journal and the Rhode Island Medical Journal, he’d keep coming to the White Coat Ceremony and Commencement, and he’d be forwarding interesting email news from alumni. But as he wrote in what turned out to be his last newspaper article, “death is as certain as tomorrow’s sunrise.”
This Reunion-Commencement Weekend we’ll have an opportunity to come together as a community to celebrate Stan’s life and accomplishments. It’s poignant that we’ll also be marking the 40th anniversary of the Medical School’s first graduating class. In this issue of Brown Medicine, we share tributes from many of Stan’s former students and colleagues.
Also in this issue are the results of the 2015 Match. Our graduates are heading off to some of the best residency programs in the country. These budding Brown-trained physicians—and all those who will come after them—are Dean Aronson’s true legacy.
Sincerely,
Jack A. Elias, MD
Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences
