John BIENENSTOCK

Dr. JOHN BIENENSTOCK It is with great sadness that we announce that Dr John Bienenstock died suddenly on July 25. He was husband to Dody; father to the late Jimson (Johanna), Adam (Jill), Robin; grandfather to Bella, Elsa, Sam, Leo, Sebastiano, and Oliva; brother to Tsultrim Zangmo (Veronica). Predeceased by his parents, Anne and Maurice. He met Dody at medical school, and with her shared a life-long mutual love. He overcame shadows cast by the holocaust on his own early life to become a loving father and extraordinary grandfather. His love and pride for all their children was palpable, and he was so very loved in return. He was a loving, gentle, and thoughtful friend. He loved beauty in all its forms and was an accomplished painter and sculptor. He had a joy of life that was irrepressible, was a great party thrower and goer, and fascinating conversation partner. Despite his many remarkable intellectual and professional achievements, and his easy charisma, he was a humble and profoundly unselfish man. John was a remarkable man who affected the lives of many. He was a scientific pioneer, a polymath, and an instinctive yet serious iconoclast. He had an extraordinarily creative, curious, and open mind that he combined with a sense of mischievous fun, an astonishing appetite for work and rigorous thought. He created wholly new and important ways of thinking about how human bodies work, an intellectual and scientific platform on which many have subsequently built. Born in Budapest, his family emigrated to London, England in 1939 on the eve of the declaration of war. As he had recently begun to document, all of his remaining family perished. He was educated at St Paul's School, obtained his medical degree at King's College and Westminster Hospital in London, England in 1960, and did a postdoctoral term at Harvard University before joining McMaster University's medical school start-up in 1968. The first class began in 1969. He remained active in research until his death. He was chair of the Department of Pathology, Dean and Vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster. He was known for establishing a substantial research infrastructure at the Faculty. During his tenure at McMaster, he became renowned world-wide as a pioneer in mucosal immunology, introducing the concept of a common mucosal immune system. He also advanced the knowledge of neuroimmunology and in understanding how the brain and nervous system collaborate. He published more than 500 peer-reviewed articles and authored, edited or co-edited 10 books including a standard textbook on mucosal immunology and allergy. John was a generous mentor and friend to many graduate students and fellow researchers. He created opportunities for others by encouraging them to think wildly but well, and by identifying and highlighting the extraordinary and the good in people. He became a proud Canadian who was grateful for the opportunities this country afforded him, for its fairness and decency, and for the gift of a life lived without military conflict. John was a proud and deserving recipient of the Order of Canada, a Distinguished University Professor of McMaster University (Medicine and Pathology), Founding Director of the McMaster Brain-Body Institute, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Inductee to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame and Honorary MD (Goteborg). Cremation has taken place. A celebration of John's life will be held at a later date. Donations can be sent to John Bienenstock's Fund at St Joseph's Healthcare Foundation. 224 James St. S., Hamilton, ON L8P 3A9 Tel: 905.521.6036 Toll-free: 1.866.478.5037