PAUKER, Dr. Stephen Pioneer of Medical Decision Making Dr. Stephen Gary Pauker of Weston, Massachusetts passed away at the age of 81 on February 16, 2024. Dr. Pauker pioneered the field of medical decision making, cared for patients in the specialties of internal medicine, cardiology and clinical hypnosis at Tufts Medical Center for over 40 years and served as the Sara Murray Jordan Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Pauker was born in 1942 to Helen Yurdin Pauker and Carl Jacob Pauker in New York City and raised in Kingston, New York. Stephen delighted in being an older brother to Kenneth Yurdin Pauker of Laguna Niguel, California, and Jonathan Phillip Pauker, who passed away in 2003. Valedictorian of his class at Kingston High School, Dr. Pauker graduated Magna cum Laude in biomedical sciences from Harvard College as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and then from Harvard Medical School, Magna cum Laude as President of the Alpha Omega Alpha society. Dr. Pauker trained in cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1967, Dr. Pauker married Dr. Susan Perlmutter Pauker, who became a clinical geneticist and mentor at Harvard Medical School. Together, the Drs. Pauker developed the field of prenatal diagnostic decision making. They raised their children, Sheridan Joanna Pauker of Berkeley, California, and Scott Gregory Pauker of Moab, Utah, along with numerous dogs whose names also began with the letter "S," in Weston, Massachusetts. Beginning in the 1970's, Dr. Pauker co-authored over 350 medical journal articles with his beloved peers and mentees at Tufts that have been cited over 14,000 times in the fields of decision analysis, cardiology, hypnosis, genetic screening, and many others. He was among the first to apply artificial intelligence to medicine, establish rational thresholds for testing and treatment, introduce the importance of patient preferences in medical decisions, and perform a decision analysis for a care decision for a patient. Dr. Pauker wrote the original code for the first medical decision analysis program. He founded and was Chief of the Division of Clinical Decision Making at Tufts Medical Center, a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, a Master of the American College of Physicians, a member of the Institute of Medicine, and President of the American Board of Medical Hypnosis and of the Society for Medical Decision Making. In addition to the family members mentioned above, Dr. Pauker leaves son-in-law Jonathan Kaplan and grandson Jonah Mateo Pauker Kaplan, beloved colleagues at Tufts Medical Center, and dear family friend Lorena Richards, who lovingly cared for Dr. Pauker in his home for many years. The Pauker Family is deeply grateful to the staff of Lasell House in Auburndale, Massachusetts for their loving care of Dr. Pauker. After a family burial, Dr. Pauker's memorial service will be held at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, Massachusetts on Tuesday, February 20, 2024 at 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Tufts Medical Center, Department of Medicine Division of Clinical Decision Making. Please visit giving.tuftsmedicalcenter.org/give-now to make an online donation, or call (617) 636-7656 and designate the "Stephen G. Pauker Memorial Lecture Fund" in the comments line.

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Published by Boston Globe from Feb. 17 to Feb. 18, 2024.

Memories and Condolences
for STEPHEN PAUKER

19 Entries

Steve Wright

July 2, 2024

Hi Sue, I am sorry to know if Steve´s passing so long after the fact. I regret that I became aware of it only at the Ron Arky event. I hope I didn´t augment your grief. Steve was a remarkable scientist and human. Though I did not interact with him much when we were classmates at Harvard, but got to know him better at Tufts faculty events and, of course, during many trines he was a loyal Longwood groupie I take my hat off to you for all the love and support you gave him, especially during those very painful later years. Annie and I send our condolences.

Mark Peppercorn

April 10, 2024

Margie and I are so saddened to have just heard of Steve´s passing and want to convey our condolences to you Sue the family. The memories of our times together in Eliot House and then in adjacent rooms at Vanderbilt Hall come flooding back. Can still hear him shouting out our name when he realized that Sherry and our son Dan were moving in to the same freshman dorm at Harvard on the same day. He was clearly the most brilliant member of our medical school class and so his remarkable career with his incredible accomplishments came as no surprise to those of us who knew him well. What a truly remarkable person in so many ways. May his memory be a blessing. mark peppercorn

Sally Kaplan

February 22, 2024

I was lucky enough to have met Stephen when he travelled to CA to visit with my brother Jonathan and his wife Sherry - Stephen's daughter and my beloved sister-in-law. Although he was quiet at our large family gathering, he never missed a beat, and when he did speak, it was cutting and astute. I will always remember his wry humor mixed with warmth. He will be missed.

Lanny Rosenwasser

February 21, 2024

So sorry to hear this. Worked with Steve in the 1980's at Tufts NEMC. Had a few publications when Allergy Immunology and Decision analysis intersected. Steve would always exhort get the information and then peddle hard to get a manuscript. We lived in Weston and knew all the Paukers well. I remember an intense discussion of how to make a perfect Pinewood Derby racer with Steve as my son Mark was a year behind Scott in the cub scouts. Our elder daughter Alison looked up to Sheridan, who helped babysit our youngest Emily. Sue is always a trusted and loved presence in all of this. Sympathy and condolences from all the Rosenwassers to all the Paukers

Diane D Ashley

February 21, 2024

I had known Steve almost as long as Sue...she and I were roommates at Tufts...and friends forever. I was in the dorm room when Sue came back from their first date...and said that's the most intelligent man I've ever met...she knew brilliance when she heard it. Long life, Long marriage, two fabulous children...Steve, we will all miss you... Rest in Peace, my friend

Pat Sullivan

February 21, 2024

I am a nurse at Tufts and met Stephen in the early 1970's. I was the Nurse Manager on Proger 5 South. We were implementing a new nursing practice called Primary Nursing. I met with Stephen and explained the concept and structure of the new practice and asked him to make sure there was a nurse on rounds when his service was on the unit. One day I was at desk, and I hear from down the hallway, Pat "I am not going into this room without the nurse caring for this patient." I looked at him and he smiled. It was wonderful. Loved him for that. I will miss him. Pat

Dennis Plante

February 21, 2024

I was saddened to learn of Steve´s passing. He was one of my mentors during my medical training at NECM (now Tufts Medical Center). I was so impressed by his ability to take the principles of medical decision making to the bedside in his role as a Cardiologist. I subsequently became one of his early Clinical Decision Making fellows and got to experience his multifaceted brilliance on a daily basis. I have tried to emulate Steve in my roles as a clinician educator and primary care physician. I have been a much better physician and person for having had Steve´s influence in my life. My fond memories of Steve will be with me forever. I offer sincere condolences to Susan and her family.

Nava and Joe Pliskin

February 21, 2024

Dear Susan and Family, Nava and I send our most sincere condolences to you at this time. Steve was a bight man with a sense of humor and a strong professinal drive. He will be dearly missed.

John Clarke, MD

February 20, 2024

What a brilliant man. I was a fellow founder of the Society for Medical Decision Making and he was head and shoulders above the rest of us, both a pioneer and a giant in the field. He will be remembered and his legacy will live on.

Bob Beck

February 20, 2024

I write with deep sympathy for Steve's family, coupled with warm memories of decades of collaboration. Steve was my research mentor; his NLM fellowship program redirected and propelled my academic career. The brightest person I've ever known, Steve first amazed me by taking one of my math books and devouring it over a weekend. He had a well-earned reputation as an uncompromising advocate for rigor and quality in the field of medical decision making, but that was coupled with a fine sense of humor and convivial companionship during visits and academic meetings. Steve's trainees and their students are his scholarly legacy, and his fundamental contributions will always influence our field.

Andrew Plaut

February 20, 2024

"Wisdom is knowing what to do when you don´t know what to do".
I once gave Steve this quotation (origin unknown) to thank him along with a handful of our other medical colleagues for converting "knowing what to do" into a full-scale academic program----a contribution of great insight and of obvious value in medical care. Anyone who knew Steve well or perhaps only in passing realize that he was among the wisest among scores of learned doctors within Tufts medicine. And his remarkable mind always was available to me and others to help find the right approach in service to a patient. What a colleague, what a friend, what a "mensch" he was.
Andrew Plaut

Fabio

February 20, 2024

Unforgettable great teacher...

Nancy Gittelson

February 19, 2024

My deepest sympathies to Stephen´s family. So sorry for your loss. I had the privilege of working with Dr. Pauker at Tufts Medical Center. (I would bring him work that was 95% right, and it took him about a nanosecond to spot what wasn´t correct .) He was brilliant and innovative and one-of-a-kind. May he rest in peace.

Carol &Leo Pessin

February 18, 2024

Dear Susan and Family, Leo and I send our most heartfelt and sincere sympathy to you at this time. Stephen was a champion in his work and private life. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Colin Zick

February 18, 2024

I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Pauker for many years - physicians can often be difficult clients, but he was not, and he stood out by his care for patients and humanity.

Karen Davis

February 18, 2024

We lived just houses apart growing up. The memory that stands out for me is when Steve and Sue so proudly came over to "present" their newborn Sheridan. Like Mufasa presenting Simba, Steve and Sue were glowing as they held her up. I was in awe of them. I was just a kid at the time but they were both brilliant, accomplished people who my mother adored and I aspired to emulate in some way. Stephen was like our family's Einstein. If someone had "smarts" they'd be compared to Stephen and always fell short. Besides his brilliance and amazing perseverance, he had the Pauker sense of humor, humility, and kindness. We lost a cousin but the world lost a giant thinker. May your memory always be a blessing.

Jane Davis

February 18, 2024

Stephen is my cousin. We grew up across the street from me. Well, a block away. Stephen taught me how to swim when I was 4 years old. He also, at some point in my life attempted to teach me how to play bridge. Note the operative word, attempted.
Over the years we always connected somehow. He was 11 years older. I was always in awe of him. I remember that he and my mother, also brilliant, were close. She encouraged him, played bridge with him and just overall loved him.
In more recent years Stephen was incredibly helpful to my aging father who lived on the Cape. Stephen was always available to connect him with the right doctors needed and to offer his advice.
About five years ago I visited Steve and Sue at their home. I've been trying to upload a picture but can't seem to figure that out.
Stephen was an inspiriation to all who knew him going way back to his early days.
RIP Stephen! RIP.

Bob Frank

February 17, 2024

Susan,

As a dental school classmate of Stephen´s at HMS I am so fortunate to have known him. Who can forget those wonderful clambakes the two of you hosted for our class reunions. My condolences to you and your family.

Joe Stubbs

February 17, 2024

He was a brilliant mind and a compassionate heart. It was an honor to work with him in the American College of Physicians and learn so much valuable insights in medicine as a student and resident

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