In Memoriam
Scientist, mentor, leader
Richard Bookman, a longtime supporter of the Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, exemplary mentor and unparalleled contributor to the intellectual life of the University of Miami, has died. Richard was smart without hubris and encouraging without pause. His interest in health information technology and the ethical issues it raises contributed to an environment that made UM Read more »
Co-founder of U.S. hospital ethics rounds
Dr. Donald M. Buckner, a pediatric surgeon described by a colleague as having saved more babies than anyone in the history of civilization, died on July 21. He was 86.
Dr. Buckner practiced at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital from 1973 until his retirement in 2014. In addition to 40 years of surgical practice, he was a pioneer in introducing medical ethics into teaching Read more »
Co-Founder, CITI Program
Dr. Paul Braunschweiger, Professor Emeritus at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where he co-founded the international CITI Program in research ethics education, died May 19, 2024. Dr. Braunschweiger was a successful basic cancer researcher. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Buffalo. After spending time at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh and at AMC Cancer Center in Denver, he came to the University of Miami in 1990 Read more »
One of the founders of the field of bioethics in the United States.
“Chuck,” as he was known, and his longtime friend and collaborator Prof. Bernard Gert, helped establish the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center Ethics program in the mid-1970s and, later, the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital Ethics Committee, one of the first in the country. It has been described as one of the country’s first fully operational ethics committees. Dr. Culver was the committee’s first chair, succeeded by Dr. James Bernat, the Dartmouth neurologist. Drs. Culver and Gert, along with Prof. K. Danner Clouser, Dr. Bill Nelson and and Dr. Bernat, did much Read more »
An early supporter of and advocate for UM's Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy
Dr. Lawrence M. Fishman, an early supporter of and advocate for UM’s Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, died on January 27, 2021. He was 87. Dr. Fishman, trained as an endocrinologist, helped build the research program at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Miami. Indeed, the ethics institute’s Read more »
Philosopher and co-founder, U.S. hospital ethics rounds
Dr. Thomasine K. Kushner, who with UM surgeon Donald M. Buckner, helped initiate the first weekly “ethics rounds,” in the neonatal critical care unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital in the 1980s, died on February 2, 2025, in Greenbrae, California. Read more »
Medical Director Emeritus
Mervin H. Needell, MD, MA, who served as the UM Bioethics Programs’ first Medical Director, died October 24, 2014. He was 90. Dr. Needell was present at the UM Bioethics Program’s founding and participated in its earliest activities. He helped introduce bioethics into third-year medical clerkships and ethics rounds in the Department of Family Medicine. He also taught bioethics at Barry University and at Nova Southeastern University from 1991 to 2000. He was uncompromising in his conviction that the improvement of critical thinking skills was essential Read more »
Founder, Health and Human Values Programs
J. Phillip Pennell, 68, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Medical Director at the University of Miami dialysis unit, died September 27, 2007, at home in Coconut Grove. Dr. Pennell, while caring for dialysis patients, was a medical educator and researcher. He enjoyed teaching, and focused on bioethics. He was a leader in introducing ethics into medical school curricula in Florida. He founded and directed UM's former Read more »
Educator, Rhetorician
Dr. Prineas, a longstanding friend of and collaborator with the UM Ethics Programs, died January 30, 2010, in Winston-Salem, NC. Dr. Prineas was the elder daughter of Mr. Winsleigh Swynny and Gladys (June) Swynny (nee Johns). She is survived by her beloved sister, Yolande Oakley of Malacoota, Australia; a brother, Phillip Swynny of Sydney, Australia; her husband of 49 years, Dr. Ronald Prineas, Professor Read more »
Major Contributor to UM’s Ethics Mission
Dr. Raúl E. de Velasco, one of Florida’s leading nephologists and a longtime contributor to the Miller School of Medicine and its Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, and Baptist Health South Florida, died in Coral Gables on December 15, 2024. He was 83. Read more »
Co-Founder, "Therapeutic Jurisprudence"
Bruce Winick was a Professor of Law and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He died Aug. 26, 2010. The co-founder of the school of social enquiry known as therapeutic jurisprudence, Winick was Director of the University of Miami School of Law Therapeutic Jurisprudence Center. He was the first the recipient of the Read more »
