Charles B. Carpenter

Charles Bernard Carpenter, M.D., died Friday, Sept. 30, 2011, at RiverWoods at Exeter, in Exeter, N.H., after a valiant struggle with Alzheimers disease. A longtime resident of Weston and Bar Harbor, Maine, he was born in Melrose in 1933, and predeceased by his parents, Seymour C. Carpenter and Pauline F. Carpenter. A 1955 graduate of Dartmouth College, a 1956 graduate of Dartmouth Medical School and Harvard Medical School, Class of 1958, he served as a medical officer in the U.S. Naval Hospital in Yokosuka, Japan. His career spanned more than 44 years at Brigham and Womens Hospital (BWH) and Harvard Medical School as a pioneer in the development of clinical organ transplantation. He helped develop the new medical field of immunogenetics, which grew out of transplantation immunology research. Bernie was a founding member of the Transplantation Society, the American Society of Nephrology, the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, and the American Society of Transplantation, serving as president of the latter two societies. As the author of more than 380 professional papers and chapters in medical texts, he led an extensive research program as director of the Laboratory of Immunogenetics and Transplantation at BWH, and mentored the careers of two generations of senior physicians and scientists. In 1966, he received the first of what would be many awards in his distinguished career: Ten Outstanding Young Men of Greater Boston Awards. In 2004, he was the recipient of the John C. Peters Award of the American Society of Nephrology given to recognize individuals who have made substantial research contributions to the discipline of nephrology. In 2005, he received the David M. Hume Memorial Award of the National Kidney Foundation, which is the highest honor given by that organization to a scientist in the field of kidney and urologic diseases. The Renal Division of Brigham and Womens Hospital has created the Charles B. Carpenter Transplant Fellowship, to be awarded to a renal transplant fellow who will pursue advanced training in transplantation. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Sandra Davis Carpenter; son, Bradford D. Carpenter and his wife, Ellen, granddaughters, Michaela and Emma of Santa Monica, Calif.; and son, Scott C. Carpenter and his wife, Tatiana, grandson, Andres, and granddaughter, Annette of Coconut Creek, Fla. A memorial service was held Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the First Baptist Church in Newton Centre. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Charles B. Carpenter Transplant Fellowship at Brigham and Womens Hospital, 75 Francis St., Boston, MA 02115. For more information, visit www.brewittfuneralhome. com.