Lawren Daltroy

A memorial service will be held tomorrow, Saturday, October 4, in the Bornstein Amphitheatre of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis Street, at 5 p.m. A reception will follow. Please RSVP to Angela Strickland at astrickland@partners.org. Personal reflections may also be e-mailed and will be compiled and shared with Daltroy’s family.

A member of the HSPH community for 20 years, Daltroy pursued research that focused on improving communication between patients and health care providers. With HSPH colleague Rima Rudd, he co-directed the Health Literacy Studies, a research program of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy.

A passionate and dedicated teacher, Daltroy participated in the development of a number of courses at HSPH on subjects such as communication in health care settings and psychosocial theory.

"He brought incredible self-reflection and deliberateness to his teaching and to all of his work," said Rudd, who co-taught courses with him for eight years, "and he made a profound contribution to curriculum development for our department."

This year, he was the winner of the Roger L. Nichols Excellence in Teaching Award, an achievement of which he was particularly proud, said Rudd.

Several former doctoral students noted his unique contributions to their work. "Dr. Daltroy made each meeting an opportunity to educate, support, and encourage his students," said Charlene Worley, SD ’02.

Added Linda Hudson, SD ’03: "He characterized the research experience as the uncovering of truths waiting to be discovered. On that journey to discovery, he provided great intellectual insight and an expectation of scientific rigor characterized by clarity and specificity in our work."

In addition to his duties at HSPH, Daltroy held the position of associate director of the Robert B. Brigham Multipurpose Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and was the director of the Methodology Core.

Funeral services were held on September 24. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be considered to the Lawren H. Daltroy Fellowship at Research Education Foundation, American College of Rheumatology, 1800 Century Place, Suite 250, Atlanta, GA 30345.