2022 In Memoriam

Jennifer Kelsey, MPH ’66, PhD ’69, died on October 13, 2021, at the age of 79. She was a Yale faculty member in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health for 14 years. Known for her work in the epidemiology of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, Dr. Kelsey co-authored the textbook Methods in Observational Epidemiology and wrote, Epidemiology of Musculoskeletal Disorders. She would go on to lead the division of epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and later at the Stanford University Medical School. Former YSPH Dean Sten Vermund, MD, PhD, shared an office with Dr. Kelsey at Columbia when he was starting his career. “Her skill set for mentoring and collaborating was extraordinary,” he said. Dr. Kelsey was a member of advisory committees and study sections for the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 2000, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Yale Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. She also received the Wilbur Cross Medal from Yale in 1995 and the American Public Health Association’s John Snow Award in Epidemiology in 1991. She was an honorary fellow of the American College of Epidemiology. 

Robert “Bob” Anderson, MPH ’66, a former Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, died on February 20, 2022, at the age of 80. A Connecticut native, he later moved to the West Coast where he served as a National City Reserve Police Officer and Judge Pro Tem of the San Diego Superior Court. 

Gerard “Rod” Barber, MPH ’67, PhD, died on December 18, 2021, at the age of 78. He was a professor at the Kent School of Social Work for 34 years. 

Steven Beloff, MPH ’72, of Framingham, Massachusetts, died on June 8, 2021, at the age of 78. A captain in the 9th Infantry in Vietnam, he was the proud recipient of the Bronze Star and Combat Medical Badge. After obtaining his master’s degree in public health, he went on to a long career in managed health care. 

Carlos Ceballos, MPH ’81, of North Haven, Connecticut, died on January 14, 2022, at the age of 71. During a career in public health administration, he worked at Fair Haven Community Health and the Connecticut State Department of Health Services. He became coordinator of school-based health centers for the New Haven Public School system during which time he expanded the program providing equitable access to medical and dental care to students in New Haven. 

Rodney Michael Dourron, MPH ’92, died on November 1, 2021, at the age of 58. After obtaining a medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia, he served residencies at Stanford Hospital and Bridgeport Hospital. Most recently, he was chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Emory Decatur Hospital. 

Joe Tom Easley, MPH ’86, a prominent gay rights activist and lawyer involved in the repeal of the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy that discriminated against gays in the military and whose wedding in 2003 was among the first same-sex marriages featured in the New York Times, died on February 13, 2022, at a hospital in Miami Beach. He was 81. 

Casey James Finch, MPH ’13, of Overland Park, Kansas, died on May 7, 2022, at the age of 38. As a YSPH student, he was awarded the Dean’s Prize for his thesis. He served in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy and participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He ended his military career as an Air Force captain, where he battled infectious diseases and managed a medical group. As a civilian, he most recently worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a health care consultant. Lt. Col.

John Robert Galbraith (Ret), MPH ’62, of Lakeland, Florida, formerly of Colorado Springs, died on January 1st, 2022, at the age of 94. John lived a full and productive life, leaving an admirable legacy that included a long career in the Air Force. 

Barbara “Bobbsie” Granger, MPH ’80, died on July 29, 2021, in Westford, Massachusetts, at the age of 94. She served as a research assistant to Yale Professor Dr. David Musto on his landmark book, The American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control. Following graduation, she became the director of the advocacy project for the National Home Caring Council. She also worked with the Center for Care of the Aged/Research and Education, a program jointly run by Bellevue Hospital and New York University. 

Elizabeth “Beth” Hadley, MPH ’89, died on July 23, 2021, in Guilford, Connecticut at the age of 66. She held numerous positions in the federal government, including serving as an appointee of the Obama Administration to the Office of Personnel Management. 

Peter J. Levin, MPH ’65, died in Carmel, California on October 8, 2021, at the age of 82. He had a diverse and well-traveled 50-year career in public health. He served as deputy commissioner, New York City Department of Health; chief operating officer, Bronx Municipal Hospital Center; executive director, Stanford University Medical Center; dean of three colleges of public health (University of Oklahoma, University of South Florida, and the State University of New York at Albany); and health policy counsel to Senator Connie Mack (R-FL). Though he held degrees from Harvard, Yale, and Johns Hopkins, he never doubted that wisdom was as likely to be heard at the bus stop as the lectern. 

Norma L. Mettler, MPH ’68, DPH ’70, of Monmouth, Illinois died on April 20, 2022, at the age of 87. She spent most of her life as a teacher at Monmouth Early Learning Center. It is estimated that she taught over 1600 students at MELC. 

Richard Muglia, MPH ’76, died from complications of pancreatic cancer on April 30, 2022 at his home in Chilmark, Massachusetts. He was 71. A Yale E. Richard Weinerman Fellow, he spent most of his life focused on international law where he represented investment banks, international corporations, and individuals in transactions involving listings on the New York and London stock exchanges. 

Marcia Richardson, MPH ’79, of North Branford died peacefully in her home on May 29, 2021, at the age of 93. She was a reporter for the New Haven Register and very involved in the League of Women Voters. 

Carolyn Keller Wells, MPH ’80, died on February 17, 2022, at the age of 79. Her career in health care spanned five decades, including her time as a lecturer for the Yale School of Medicine’s Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program. She trained generations of medical trainees in methods of epidemiology and bio-statistics. She was an important research partner to Yale Sterling Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology Dr. Alvan Feinstein, who is regarded as one of the founders of modern clinical epidemiology. Their work on methods of stratification in lung cancer pioneered approaches to data analysis that have become commonplace today. She was also instrumental in recognizing the medical concept of stage migration. 

Send obituary notices to ysph.alumni@yale.edu.