John Arras Obituary

John Dyer Arras

August 25, 1945 - March 9, 2015

John Dyer Arras, a pioneering bioethicist and University of Virginia professor, died of a sudden stroke on Monday, March 9, 2015, while on vacation with his family. He was 69.
John was born on August 25, 1945, in San Mateo, CA. He attended Serra High School, received his bachelor's degree from the University of San Francisco and his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Northwestern University. He loved cooking, fly-fishing, drinking good wine, reading and talking about movies.
John is survived by his wife of 47 years, Elizabeth Emrey; their two daughters Marina Wright and Melissa Emrey-Arras; sons-in-law Jeffrey Wright and Mark Hickernell; and five grandchildren--Luke, John and Grace Wright, and Gabriel and Alex Hickernell. He also leaves behind his brother Ernest Arras, Jr. M.D., sister Barbara Scruggs, sister-in-law Kay Arras, nephew Phil Arras, Ph.D., nieces Lise Carney and Catherine Scruggs, and great-niece Aoife Arras. He was preceded in death by his parents Ernest Arras, a general contractor and Margaret Dyer Arras, a homemaker.
Dr. Arras was the Porterfield Professor of Biomedical Ethics and Professor of Philosophy and Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia, where he directed the Undergraduate Program in Bioethics. He authored scores of articles and several books on bioethics, focused on such issues as death and dying, public health ethics, and international research ethics.
John was known for his charismatic teaching. In 2005 he was honored with the University of Virginia Alumni Association's Distinguished Professor Award for teaching, research and contributions to student life. And in 2006 he received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Virginia State Council of Higher Education for his work with students.
Prior to moving to Virginia in 2005, John was an Associate Professor of Bioethics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine-Montefiore Medical Center, an Adjunct Associate Professor of Philosophy at Barnard College and was chairman of the Philosophy Dept. at the University of Redlands. John was also a long-time Fellow and former Board Member of the Hastings Center.
John was also known for his public service. He and his wife Elizabeth were Peace Corps volunteers in Sierra Leone, West Africa. He was a member of President Obama's Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, and he also regularly consulted at the National Institutes of Health. He served on the National Ethics Committee of the March of Dimes and he was a founding member of the Ethics Advisory Board of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. He previously served on the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law-Governor Mario Cuomo's Bioethics Commission.
A memorial service was held in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia.

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Published by San Francisco Chronicle from Apr. 17 to Apr. 19, 2015.

Memories and Condolences
for John Arras

1 Entry

April 19, 2015

Elizabeth,
My name is Ward Krause. John was my favorite professor at the University of Redlands. I took 3 classes from him - not so much because I loved Philosophy - but because I loved his teaching style, intellect, and what a genuinely nice human being he was. I know you don't remember me, but I was a guest at your little house near the U of R a few times and visited John at your apartment in Berkeley when John was working on his PhD. Your toddler girls were there that day and he was a little bit overwhelmed by fatherhood and academic work. But i knew that this man was a wonderful father. At the U of R I wrote a paper that greatly challenged the "wisdom" of Kant. i kind of ranted off on a tangent too much and John pointed that out. What I didn't expect was that he would give me an "A" and appreciated that I would challenge traditional views and kind of call into question that it may be just a waste of time to overanalyze philosophical points of view. He told me I was the only student he had had who was willing to do that, and even though I was challenging his world, he like that I was willing to do so. That says a lot about a man who isn't threatened by someone calling into challenge his life's work. I considered John a fiend and wished i had kept up with him over the years, but I had babies soon after that and became an elementary school teacher for 38 years here in Redlands and retired two years ago. I was just thinking about John a few days ago while walking at the U of R. My wife and I walk there a lot. The campus is even more beautiful today than it was in the early 70's when I was a student there. I was saddened to hear of John's passing. He was only 7 years older than I! But he touched me in ways that helped shape my future and was one of my heroes!
With sympathy and love,
Ward Krause