Alexander Caemmerer Jr. ’45

Alex grew up in Westwood, N.J., and attended Westwood High School. At Princeton he was in Campus Club. He went on to study medicine at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating in 1947.

His internship and residency were at New York State Psychiatric Institute and Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, respectively. He then went on to be the founding director of psychiatry at Bergen Pines County Hospital in New Jersey.

Alex began his private practice in the early 1950s. Later he was drafted into the Naval Medical Service and stationed at Key West, Fla. He would return to Key West often, and his first book, The Houses of Key West, was a collection of photographs of the vernacular architecture of the historic district.

After the Navy Alex returned to New York City, married Li Browne, and joined the psychiatric service at St. Luke’s Hospital, where he taught, lectured, and supervised members of the resident staff. He lectured in the Department of Religion and Psychiatry, Union Theological Seminary, and was a staff member of the Student Mental Health Service at Columbia University.

Alex stayed in private practice well past retirement age, seeing patients on a reduced schedule all the way up to and including the day before he died. Alex died July 10, 2018. He was predeceased by his wife, Li. He is survived by sons John, William, and Alex III.