Among fellow alumni magazine editors, there’s a truism we can’t ignore: Most readers flip to the alumni news section first. That’s an important mission of our publications — keeping readers connected to their classmates, highlighting professional milestones and marking the passing of those who have died.
For the last 20 years the chronicler of those important events here at Johns Hopkins Medicine has been our beloved Neil A. Grauer, a bespectacled fellow known for his trademark bow tie and summer seersucker suit, the towers of papers in his office, and his vast knowledge of Hopkins history. A 1969 School of Arts and Sciences grad (and a third generation Hopkins alum), Neil is an avid lacrosse fan who created an iconic cartoon of the Hopkins Blue Jay as an undergraduate — the “NAG Jay” — which has been synonymous with the JHU lacrosse program for five decades.
Neil is also a prolific writer. A veteran newspaperman, he has 10 books to his name, including a biography of James Thurber, histories of Johns Hopkins neurosurgery and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, and a hefty tome published in 2012, Leading the Way, that recounts the history of Johns Hopkins Medicine in fascinating detail.
Neil A. Grauer
Neil will soon retire from Johns Hopkins, marking the end of an era. Around the office we’ll certainly miss his quick grin and curmudgeonly quips. And the larger university community will undoubtedly miss his encyclopedic knowledge of — and passion for — all things Johns Hopkins.
-- Sue De Pasquale
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The Past Is Our Cradle
I read with interest about the life of Johns Hopkins in the recent Hopkins Medicine (“Reexamining the Life of Johns Hopkins”). It was once said, “The past is our cradle, not our prison, and there is danger as well as appeal in its glamor. The past is for inspiration, not imitation, for continuation, not repetition” (Israel Zangwill).
V.K. Raju, M.D., F.R.C.S., F.A.C.S.
President and Founder, Eye Foundation of America
Clinical Professor, West Virginia University
Director, International Ocular Surface Society
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Correction
In our obituary for Susan M. MacDonald, “Advocate for Female Faculty” (Winter), we incorrectly listed her age. At the time of her death, MacDonald had just turned 70. The magazine regrets the error.
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