Dr. Gosfield Jr., Medicine

Dr. Edward Gosfield Jr., emeritus associate professor of medicine, a longtime cardiologist at Graduate Hospital, died on April 25, at the age of 94 of complications following surgery.

Born in New York City and raised in Center City, Dr. Gosfield was a 1934 graduate of Central High School.

He attended Penn, receiving his BA with distinction, major honors in philosophy in 1939, and membership in Phi Beta Kappa. He received an MS in education in 1940 and a medical degree in 1944. Dr. Gosfield matriculated in 1947 at the Graduate School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, completing his training as a resident at Graduate Hospital in 1950.

He served in the Medical Corps of the Army as captain and acting commanding officer at the station hospital at Fort Eustace, Virginia.

He was appointed to the faculty of Penn’s Graduate School of Medicine in 1950 and later to the faculty of the School of Medicine.

Dr. Gosfield founded the hypertension clinic at Graduate Hospital in 1957 and was chief of the clinic until 1980, writing numerous medical articles. Dr. Gosfield was designated attending physician to Queen Elizabeth II when she visited the United States in 1976.

He was elected chairman of the medical board in 1975 and again in 1992. Dr. Gosfield served as acting chairman of the department of medicine from 1979 to 1980 and from 1990 to 1992. He went on to serve as associate chairman of Graduate’s department of medicine as well as having a solo medical practice for many years.

He was a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a member of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and acted as a consultant to Wills Eye Hospital, to the former Community Hospital at 10th and Reed Streets, and to the veterans hospital at Wilmington.

Dr. Gosfield retired from practicing cardiology and internal medicine at age 83 as emeritus associate professor of medicine at the Penn School of Medicine.

Three years later, the leaders of Graduate’s cardiology residency program asked him back to instruct residents on managing cases in the cardiac care unit.

He is survived by his wife, Thelma; a daughter, Alice; two sons, Edward III and Gregory G.; stepchildren Michael White and Stella White Fisher; four grandchildren; seven step-grandchildren; and six great-step-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 11, at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 19 S. 22nd St. Donations may be made to Morris Animal Refuge, 1242 Lombard St., Philadelphia 19147, or through morrisanimalrefuge.org

Dr. Robbins, English

Dr. Larry M. Robbins, a retired English professor in SAS, died on April 28, at home after a long illness. He was 74.

Dr. Robbins was born on December 12, 1938, in Denver, Colorado, and earned his BA from Harvard University in 1961. After earning his master’s from the University of Wisconsin in 1962, he attended the University of California-Berkeley, where he obtained his PhD in 1969. He wrote his dissertation, which was later published by Elsevier, on Thomas Dekker, an English Renaissance writer. In 1967, Dr. Robbins joined the faculty of the English department of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1975, he was asked to create a communications program for the Wharton School so that business students could become better writers and speakers. In 1985, he published a seminal book, The Business of Writing and Speaking (McGraw Hill) that has been reprinted numerous times.

He also pioneered an undergraduate Arts Management program where students from the Wharton School and the College of Arts and Sciences could learn from renowned leaders of orchestras, theaters and operas. In his last decade at the University, Dr. Robbins created one of the first Teacher Development Programs in the country, training PhD candidates and professors in every school and department of the University to become more effective classroom teachers. He retired in 2007.

Dr. Robbins moved to the Berkshires with his wife, Wendy, five years ago, after teaching at Penn for 41 years. Here, he became an instant participant in the arts community, teaching Shakespeare and other literature courses for the Osher LifeLong Learning Institute. He co-chaired the Distinguished Speaker Series for OLLI and also consulted with the Barrington Stage Company, as his passion for concerts, lectures, operas and plays never waned.

In addition to his academic duties, Dr. Robbins served on the boards of Hillel of Greater Philadelphia and Main Line Reform Temple Beth Elohim, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and taught seminars for the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia. He was an active member of Hevreh of Southern Berkshire.  

Dr. Robbins is survived by his wife, Wendy; and his daughter, Elizabeth.

Dr. Wolf, Veterinary Medicine

Dr. Benjamin Wolf, retired professor emeritus of microbiology, at the School of Veterinary Medicine, passed away at the beginning of April 2013, at his Honolulu, Hawaii, residence.

Dr. Wolf obtained a BS from Wayne University in 1949, earned his master’s degree in bacteriology from the University of Michigan in 1952 and his PhD in microbiology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1959. From 1959 until 1962, Dr. Wolf was a Pennsylvania Plan Scholar and an instructor on the faculty in the School of Veterinary Medicine. He became an assistant professor in 1962, associate professor in 1968 and professor of microbiology in 1973.

From 1962 until 1972, he was the recipient of a Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health. He was involved with the Graduate Groups in Immunology, Parasitology, and Microbiology and taught on core and elective courses on immunology to veterinary students.

His graduate students praised his creative mind and unassuming, innovative and hands-on pursuit of scientific endeavors and unselfish encouragement as he groomed them to become scientists on their own. “Anyone who observed how much Ben enjoyed his work would feel inspired to pursue a career in science. It was clear that he relished his interactions with students at all levels and was a source of encouragement,” said former student Richard Bankert. Dr. Wolf moved to New Bolton Center as a professor emeritus in 1994 but curtailed his science activities to devote more time to his family.

Dr. Wolf was one of the few immunologists on the veterinary faculty and his presence nucleated what continues to be an active research group within the school. He was regarded as an incredibly enthusiastic scientist and it was obvious that he loved what he was doing. His own research centered initially on the isolation and characterization of soluble antigens of Brucella abortus but he developed an interest in the events that controlled antibody responses to pathogens and in autoimmunity. Consequently, in 1970 he spent nine months at Cambridge University, working on the expression of immunoglobulin allelic markers on the surface of lymphocytes, and in 1980, Dr. Wolf was awarded a Fogarty International Fellowship and spent six months at the University of Birmingham (England) where he continued his immunological studies.

“Ben is remembered as a reasonable, close friend and colleague able to offer advice and pertinent information on a wide variety of topics. He enjoyed his adventures in experimental immunology and pursued his immunologic research with fervor and tenacity. He shall be missed as an encouraging mentor, an interested teacher and dedicated scientist. The School has lost a good friend and supporter,” said Chuck Benson and Leonard Bello, retired Penn professors.

He is survived by his wife, Sarah; and two sons, Michael and Howard.