WALTER SCOTT

SCOTT--Walter Neil, M.D.

March 2, 1935 - July 29, 2017, of complications from dementia. Walter grew up in a small agricultural town in western Kentucky where very few youngsters went beyond a high school education. He helped his parents raise soybeans, tobacco, cattle and hogs to keep food on the table. Even though he was named Top Future Farmer of America in his district, he knew from an early age that he wanted to go into medicine. Walter obtained a B.S. from Western Kentucky University and an M.D. degree from the University of Louisville cum laude. After research training at both M.I.T. and Harvard, where he was elected to Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, he served his country as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. As an academic physician, Walter was a professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, where his topics of expertise included Physiology, Biophysics, Ophthalmology and Research. Subsequently, at New York University, he was a tenured professor of Biology for thirty years, and chaired the department during that time. Concurrent with his NYU teaching, Walter became an endocrinology consultant to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in New York, and then went on to work as an attending physician in the Endocrine Department of Beth Israel Medical Center. He was a leader in the medical community, culminating in his presidency of the New York Academy of Sciences. Walter was a kind man, responsible, appreciative, and ethical, a true Southern gentleman. He was a loving father to David Scott and David's family, wife Meghan and daughters Brynn and Bree. He was the adored life partner and companion to Sally Haver for 22 years. We will miss him immeasurably.