John A. (Jack) Pierce, MD, emeritus professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, died Nov. 24, 2017, in St. Louis following a long battle with cancer. He was 92.
Pierce came to the university in 1967 as the first director of the Department of Medicine’s Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. He also served as chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the St. Louis Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
In 1984, Pierce was named the inaugural Selma and Herman Seldin Professor of Medicine. He became an emeritus professor in 1993, but he continued to work with medical students and trainees until recently.
“Dr. Pierce made tremendous contributions to the School of Medicine,” said Victoria J. Fraser, MD, the Adolphus Busch Professor and head of the Department of Medicine. “He was the founding director of pulmonary and critical care medicine here at Washington University, and he created the first respiratory intensive care unit at what was then Barnes Hospital, which was one of the first such ICUs in the country.”
A memorial service is being planned for the spring.
Memorial contributions to support a lectureship in his honor may be made to: Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8052, 4523 Clayton Ave., St. Louis, Mo., 63110-1093.
Read the full obituary on the School of Medicine site.
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