MarJeanne (Mimi) Collins, emeritus associate professor CE of pediatarics, died in Lower Merion, on October 8. She was 84.

Dr. Collins was born in St. Louis, grew up in Upper Darby and graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1957. She earned an MD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1961, and her GME, also from Penn, in 1966. She interned at Bryn Mawr Hospital and then completed residencies in physical medicine, rehabilitation, and pediatrics at HUP. During these residencies, Dr. Collins also served as an instructor, and later a fellow, in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation. Afterwards, she practiced pediatric medicine with Charlie Hertz in West Philadelphia, treating the children of many Penn faculty in the process.

Meanwhile, Dr. Collins continued to advance her career at Penn. In 1969 she became an instructor in pediatrics, and seven years later she became an assistant professor of pediatrics at Penn’s School of Medicine. In 1979, she became an assistant professor at CHOP as well. In 1980, she became the assistant director of Penn’s Student Health Services. Five years later, she became director of SHS (Almanac January 29, 1985). She served as both the director of SHS and as a clinician-educator at Penn’s School of Medicine and at CHOP until her retirement in 2000, when she took emeritus status.

In 1973, when CHOP moved from South Philadelphia to the west side of the Schuylkill River, Dr. Collins advocated for the creation of an inpatient adolescent medicine unit there; she went on to serve as CHOP’s adolescent unit’s inaugural director. Dr. Collins published many influential papers and received many awards during her time at Penn. In 1985, the American College Health Association (ACHA) gave her an award for her work with the Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Task Force. In 1997, she was a co-recipient of the ACHA’s Edward Buck Award for Outstanding Contributions in College Health (Almanac May 20, 1997). 

She was a member of the Main Line Unitarian Church, where she served as president of their South American Task Force, the Cosmopolitan Club of Philadelphia, the New Century Trust, the Bryn Mawr College Alumnae Association (Golden Sages), the Nationalities Service of Philadelphia, and Women of the Block.

“Mimi was an extraordinary physician, mentor, and leader in adolescent and young adult health,” says her colleague Gail Slap, professor of pediatrics in the Perelman School of Medicine. “Her move from CHOP to the directorship of Student Health at the University of Pennsylvania broadened University-wide awareness of health needs during the transition from childhood to adulthood.  Mimi was a friend and role model who will be missed by those fortunate to know her.”

Dr. Collins is survived by her husband, Luis Blasco, emeritus professor CE of OB-GYN at PSOM; her sons, Ian (Caitlin) and Trevor (Susan); and her grandchildren, Colin, Tate, Caroline and Javier. 

A celebration of her life will take place after COVID-19.