AFAR is deeply saddened by the passing of Marc Weksler, MD, former President and member of AFAR’s Board of Directors.
Dr. Weksler served as a member of AFAR’s Board of Directors from 1990 – 2004, and President of the Board 1992-1993. In 2005, he was elected as an Emeritus member of the Board.
Dr. Weksler taught as a Professor of Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College and the eventual Division Chief for Geriatrics & Palliative Medicine.
His obituary reflects on his broad contributions to aging research:
“Armed with the first award made to Cornell from the new National Institute of Aging he began studying how the immune system changes in aging, winning continuous NIH funding for over 40 years. He was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and the Interurban Clinical Club. In 1978 he was appointed as Irving S. Wright Professor of Geriatrics and Gerontology, the first US-named chair in this field, a post he held for 34 years. He trained many fellows in clinical geriatrics as Chief of the Division of Geriatrics at Cornell. He served as president of the American Federation for Aging Research, was elected to membership in the Royal Society of Medicine in London, consultant to the OECD in Paris, and belonged to the European society "IMAGE" devoted to the immunology of aging. Closer to home, he served on Tenafly's Board of Health. With a colleague, he set up a workplace and senior-center-based treatment program for hypertension in New York City, run mainly by nurses; it outperformed services run by doctors. He served as editor of the Journal of Clinical Immunology and on several editorial boards.”
AFAR is grateful for Dr. Weksler’s steadfast commitment to aging research, and we are inspired to continue his invaluable legacy through our mission.
