Maurice "Maury" Albert Mufson, M.D.

Maurice Albert Mufson, M.D. (Maury), age 93, a brilliant, creative, dynamic man with multiple talents, who adored his family, and whose family adored him, passed away February 28, 2026, in Oak Park, IL following aspiration pneumonia. Born to Faye and Max Mufson in the Washington Heights area of New York City, he described his childhood as ideal, spending Saturdays with his mother’s seven siblings and their families and other times with his father’s two brothers and their families. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Linda Mufson Elbaum. He is survived by and will forever be missed by his wife of 63 years, Diane (Deedee), his children, Michael Mufson (Dorie Alexander), Karen Kleckner (Greg) and Pam Mufson (Steve Stein), grandchildren to whom he was known as “Farfar”, Alex Mufson (Ally), Wyatt Mufson (Alisa Feldman), Gavin Kleckner and Nola and Judah Stein and his cousin, Alan Mufson, M.D. (Marsha).

He graduated from New York City’s Stuyvesant High School at age 16, received his B.S. from Bucknell University and his M.D. from New York University School of Medicine. He served his medical residencies at Bellevue Hospital in New York, and Chief Residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. He served as a Lieutenant in the Navy and was a clinician and researcher at Camp Lejeune and Parris Island, during which time he also created magnificent pieces of mahogany furniture, which still are in use at his home.

According to family legend, Maury’s mother announced he would be a doctor the day he was born and happily it was a profession he loved, as a clinician, researcher and teacher. His medical career included four years at the National Institutes of Health, where he and Deedee were employed and introduced to each other in the NIH cafeteria. Their wedding date of April first was a measure of his sense of fun and enjoyment of life.

He spent 11 years at the University of Illinois College of Medicine where he became a full professor. In 1976, Dr. Mufson was named the Founding Chair and Professor of the Department of Medicine at the brand-new Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine; he became Chair-emeritus in 2002 but continued teaching and doing research until age 89. Maury’s research projects, on which he often worked with Dr. Nancy Norton, once a student of his, and Ronald Stanek, his laboratory technician for 30 years, focused on viral and bacterial vaccines, especially influenzas and pneumococcal diseases.

He authored over 220 original peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in scientific literature and for his sabbatical year was a visiting scientist in the Virology Department of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Maury’s love of science and travel frequently combined and included visits to 45 countries often to deliver scientific papers, attend symposiums and develop life-long friendships.

His awards and honors were numerous and include Fellow (1974) and Master (1998) of the American College of Physicians and the WV chapter Laureate Award in 1994. He received NYU’s School of Medicine Solomon A. Berson Alumni Achievement Award in Health Science in 1997. He was particularly proud of his Marshall University Awards including University Scholar 1986, Outstanding Researcher of the Year from Sigma-Xi Society 1989, and Commencement/Investiture Keynote Speaker for the Marshall University Joan C Edwards School of Medicine in 2020 and his Honorary Doctor of Science (Hon.D.Sc.) Degree awarded at that time. He was elected to Huntington’s Wall of Fame in 2002 and co-authored “Becoming a Clinician: A Primer for Students, with Dr. Shirley Neitch in 1998. In 2022, he wrote “The Early Development of the Marshall University Joan C Edwards School of Medicine and its Department of Medicine.” He was the last of the original faculty at the school and knew the school’s complete history.

In addition to his medical and scientific work, Maury was known for his love of tennis, starting in high school and through college where he played on the Bucknell team. He acquired tennis time at the Barboursville indoor courts before he had bought a house in Huntington and won numerous local tournaments. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the Huntington Symphony Orchestra and proudly noted he was twice president of that Board once each in the 20th and 21st centuries; he made the original contact to bring Kimo Furumoto to lead the Symphony. He was a supporter and Board Member of the Huntington Museum of Art and a member of B’nai Sholom Congregation in Huntington and the Oak Park Temple in Oak Park, IL.

Maury was also an early adopter of computers and had dikiculty parting with his Apple 2-E bought for his 50th birthday. He was a master photographer and a long-time member of TriState Artists Association. His interest in photography began when he was about 11 and he asked for a good camera, which his father found for him at a pawn shop. Maury’s photographs have won numerous awards and been displayed around the country and in Huntington. In the past year, he published and distributed a book of 100 of his amazing pen and ink drawings of Huntington physicians, compiled during meetings, when he found his colleagues faces more interesting than the topics being discussed.

Funeral services Thursday, 11AM at Oak Park Temple, 1235 North Harlem Avenue, Oak Park, IL 60302. In lieu of flowers, donations in Maury’s memory may be made to The Mufson Scholarship at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, B’nai Sholom Congregation, Huntington Symphony Orchestra, The Huntington Museum of Art Huntington, WV, Oak Park Temple, Oak Park, IL, or Beyond Hunger in Oak Park, IL. To attend the funeral live stream, please visit our website. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals - Skokie Chapel, 847.229.8822, www.cjfinfo.com.