Association of University Cardiologists
Home
Constitution and
Bylaws
Upcoming
Meetings
Officers
Membership
Roster
Deceased
Members
Membership Nomination
Abstract Forms
How to Contact Us
Robert I. Levy, M.D.
1939 - 2000
Robert I. Levy, M.D. ’61, an international authority in lipid metabolism and a research visionary who linked cholesterol reduction to the prevention of coronary disease, died of pancreatic cancer on Oct. 28 at a New York hospital. He was 63.
Levy, born in the Bronx and a resident of Morristown, N.J., was a graduate of Cornell University and Yale School of Medicine. He joined the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the NIH in 1963 and served as its director from 1975 to 1981. At the NIH he studied lipid disorders and atherosclerosis. He was a co-discoverer of the internationally used classification system of hypercholesterolemia, describing five distinct types. When awarding him a public health award in 1980, the Lasker Foundation cited his work in the Hypertension and Follow-up Program, which proved that the treatment of even mildly hypertensive patients was lifesaving.
Levy’s unique professional experience and expertise led him to serve as a vital link and advisor to government, academia and industry. He was an active member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
In 1981, Levy joined Tufts University School of Medicine as vice president and dean. He was also vice president for health sciences and professor of medicine at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. From 1988 to 1992, he served as president of the Sandoz Research Institute, and in 1992, he joined American Home Products Corp. (AHP) as president of its Wyeth-Ayerst research division. In 1998 he was named senior vice president for science and technology at AHP.