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MORTON BOGDONOFF Obituary
Morton David Bogdonoff, a professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical School for forty years, died on Sunday, March 1st in Calvary Hospice, his family at his side. He had been a patient at New York Hospital for the previous month. He is survived by his wife of forty years, Mary, and her sons Robert Welt of China, and Frederick Welt of Utah. His children by his previous marriage, Reid, Ladd, Jesse, and a daughter Drue, all reside in California. Born in Brooklyn on December 8, 1925, the son of Myron and Minna Bogdonoff, he was a graduate of Erasmus Hall, and a student at Cornell University in Ithaca. He graduated from Cornell University Medical School in the accelerated medical school program in 1948. He was a resident at Cornell Medical School until 1950 when he went to Baltimore as a senior resident at the National Heart Institute. He spent his remaining residency years at Duke University Medical School where he was Chief Resident in 1954-55, and professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology and Director of the Division of Behavioral Medicine until 1970 when he became Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine of the Illinois School of Medicine in Chicago. In 1975 he returned to his alma mater, Cornell Medical School. From 1977-78 he was a fellow at the Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford in Palo Alto. He was editor of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine from 1967-1976. During his years at Cornell he was the director of the Living at Home Program with the Commonwealth Fund and the Pew Memorial Trust Consortium as well as co chief of the Geriatric Division. For many years he was tutor to the third year students at Cornell and attending physician at New York Hospital. There will be a memorial service in the near future.
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Memories and Condolences
for MORTON BOGDONOFF
Sponsored by Drue Bogdonoff.
Mary Marino
December 3, 2023
I remember Morton and his family well. We lived to see them come in the Rex Restaurant! What year did he pass?
Donald E. Wilson, MD, MACP
March 18, 2023
I cannot believe that it has been eight years. It seems like it was only months ago when my wife Patricia and I enjoyed a fine Italian dinner in Manhattan with Mort, his wife Mary and his daughter Drue. As I continue my leadership involvement with Alpha Omega Alpha leadership scholars, I continue to use Mort's mentorship and accomplishments as examples to be followed in their own careers. I will never forget Mort. Indeed, it would be a shame if his life story and accomplishments were to be lost.
Donald E. Wilson, MD, MACP
Dean Emeritus, University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Donald E. Wilson, MD, MACP
March 19, 2022
I have already said much about Mort Bogdonoff and will not repeat myself. I served on the board of directors of Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honors society for several year. I still participate in a relatively new AOA program designed to assist, mentor and advice several awardees each year who seek to become tomorrow's leaders in medicine. Invariably, I am asked about my pathway to leadership in medicine. Even though I was in Boston as a student, I did not have access to the elite laboratories that pre-ordained success in academic medicine. Whenever the AOA fellows ask me about my mentorship and support, I respond that I did not have a cadre of mentors, but I did have Mort Bogdonoff. When Mort recruited me from the New York borough where he was born to be chief of gastroenterolgy at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago, he was not doing me a favor. He fully expected me to help make his tenure a success. Mort did not push you to do more than you wanted to do or felt you could do. Actually, that is exactly what he did, but he did so in a way that you felt that it was your idea. We became fast friends in 1971 and remained friends until his passing. My wife Patricia and I immensely enjoyed celebrating his 89th birthday with him and a fine meal with his wife Mary and his daughter Drue. And he and I did what we frequently used to do: have a fine cigar. I do not think about Mort once a year. I think about him often. I miss him .
Donald E. Wilson, MD, MACP
Dean and Vice President Emeritus
University School of Medicine
Anand Panwalker
June 18, 2020
He was a wonderful mentor, as were Donald Wilson and Maurice Mufson, and other great professors in Chicago. I have a lasting memory, a gift of a Tiffany's letter opener, that he gave me in 1974 when I was his Chief Resident. I will remember him forever.
Rich Rothman
June 17, 2020
From a former student,...An inspiring mentor to many. Rich Rothman, MD, PhD, Professor Emergency Medicine Johns Hopkins University
Donald Wilson
March 21, 2020
Recently I re-read a hand written note from Mort to me in which he admonished me for not taking proper care of my health. He was correct. We usually deny our own mortality as an abstract event in which we will not participate. After becoming dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1991 I asked Mort to serve as the first chair of the school's visiting committee. What a wise decision. He brought experience, wisdom commitment and humility to group that frequently lacks several of these attributes. Mort performed admirably. I miss my friend terribly for there are few people who can educate me the way he could without effort.
Donald Wilson
April 5, 2019
You cannot summarize the life of someone as productive and full of life as Mort Bogdonoff and I will not attempt to do so. My wife Patricia and I celebrated Mort's 89th birthday with him and some of his family including wife Mary and daughter Drue. We had a lovely meal at an Italian restaurant in New York. Mort recruited me to be his chief of gastroenterolgy at the University of Illinois in 1971. He could not have imagined the academic achievements I would reach over the next 30 years- or is that exactly what he expected. Mort was extraordinarily bright, honest and engaged. Every physician needs to be subjected to a Mort Bogdonoff at some time in their life. He understood that you cannot always effectively treat a disease but you can always treat a patient. I would frequently get called ad hoc to his morning report with residents to discuss a patient issue or point of view. Fortunately or unfortunately my office was only one floor below his. Mort supported me over the years and I supported him. He was my boss- no, he was my colleague- no, he was my friend- no, he was my brother. He touched many people during his life. I so enjoyed my last meal with him.
Donald E. Wilson, MD, MACP
Dean, Emeritus University of Maryland School of Medicine
Maurice Mufson
March 17, 2019
We met at the University of Illinois College of Medicine when I was a junior faculty member and Mort was appointed Chair of Medicine. We were friends and colleagues all those years. He was charming, dedicated, thoughtful and a great friend. Mort submitted my name for a Chairmanship in Medicine to several medical schools and provided advice in my progress through several interviews. I accepted the Chair of Medicine at Marshall University School of Medicine in Huntington, WV in 1976 and ended my Chairmanship in 2000 and became Emeritus Professor in 2002. I continue at Marshall in this capacity. At my 20th year celebration, in 1996, as Chair at Marshall, Mort sent an endearing congratulatory note that personified his caring and warmth as a friend and mentor. I miss you Mort.
Maurice A. Mufson, M.D., MACP
Department of Medicine
Marshall University
Joan C,. Edwards School of Medicine
1249 15th Street Suite 2000
Huntington, WV 25701
[email protected]
Gerry Myers
March 3, 2019
As a 3rd year med student at the U of Illinois in the autumn of 1970, Dr. Bogdonoff was lecturing us at Grand Rounds, and the topic somehow evoloved to marijuana,and he unforgettably alluded to the drug's active ingredient as "TetraHydroCannonball"-WOW! RIP,Dr. Mort-will see you again someday
Anand Panwalker
March 11, 2017
I was his chief resident in 1973 and he left an indelible mark in my life. I miss him. Anand Panwalker
August 4, 2016
To Dr. Bogdonoff's family, I'm a 69 year old mostly retired MD from N.J. I did a medical internship at U of I in 1973-4 and had the great honor of being mentored by Dr Bogdonoff. I found him to be smart, tough, demanding and most of all, compassionate.
While I had committed to a residency at U. I for 7/74 in 10/73, I changed my mind and went to him in 5/74 asking to be released from my commitment. While this was late in the medical calendar year to be replaced, he didn't hesitate. That decision changed my life and for that I'll always be a fan. May Dr. Bogdonoff be doing well in his post post graduate training years and his family as well. Respectively Lawrence J Gelber
Michael Clifford
February 1, 2016
Dr. Bogdonoff had me perpetually in fear for all my years at the U of IL. He was demanding and a leader in patient centric medicine. Many a story of a resident at morning rounds falling short on history taking because Dr Bogdonoff had actually talked to the patient beforehand and always seemed to have the key piece of social history that explained the patient. He and Larry Weed MD made their marks at about the same time and their efforts are still influencing medicine today.
Roman Ciapalo
December 21, 2015
Dear Mary:
Please accept my sincere condolences on your loss. I remember very well and with fondness my encounters with Mort in Chicago at your house on Goethe St. He was a towering figure, both literally and figuratively, with a great mind and a gentle demeanor, and, of course, a wonderful sense of humor. When I expressed my intense interest in cars, especially the BMW parked in the driveway, he remarked that he demanded only two things of his cars: that they be long and black. I only later came to appreciate fully that dose of perspective.
Ernest Hemingway once aid that "no one you love is ever truly lost." I hope that you and the boys, Robert and Frederick, find some consolation in those words.
Roman T. Ciapalo
1209 Highland Place
Dubuque, Iowa 52001
[email protected]
Hattie G
April 21, 2015
On behalf of the Greene family our deepest sympathy is with the Bogdonoff family and children Reid, Ladd, Jesse and Drue. I remember Dr. Bogdonoff when I was a child in Durham, NC in the early 60's. My mother worked for the Bogdonoff family.
Dr Bogdonoff was very kind and a caring man. When it came to his medical expertise he was always thoughtful, showed great compassion and was very concerned when it came to our family. His kindness will never ever be forgotten and he will be missed by many. May you RIP Dr. Bogdonoff
Hattie G
Drue B.
April 20, 2015
Today my sweet sweet father sailed away into his next incarnation. Celebrated by
his four children together, with his grandson and granddaughter from California, On rose petals and dolphins backs, his essence will now flow into the future, having touched so many lives over the course of his, now touch as many shores. We miss you deeply.
Henry
March 30, 2015
Indeed a great man, many benefited from his expertise, may he R.I.P and may your memories, prayers and support of all comfort you at this sad time
Peter Kim
March 28, 2015
Dr. Bogdonoff was my favorite preceptor in Medicine during my 3rd year of medical school at Cornell. As a teacher of students today, I often catch myself acting like he did when he taught the students. He will always be the noble prince of medical education.
Jennifer Swails
March 24, 2015
Dr. Bogdonoff was my core internal medicine teacher during medical school. He inspired me to choose internal medicine, and pursue a career as a clinician educator. I think of him very often as I teach medical students and residents on the wards. He taught me how to see a patient in view of their entire story, and how to pay attention to details in their history and exam. I am so grateful for his legacy of compassionate education and patient care. My condolences to his family--thank you for sharing him with us.
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