Burton D. Rose ’63

Bud, a nephrologist who delivered the digital age to clinicians nearly 30 years ago, died April 24, 2020, from Alzheimer’s complicated by COVID-19.

Working in the 1990s with Gloria in their Wellesley, Mass., basement, he created UpToDate, a medical resource now used globally a million times a day by clinicians aiding patients. Bud’s initiative arose when his publisher wouldn’t digitally update his textbook. He began by helping kidney physicians reach decisions, then expanded to 25 specialties and thousands of contributors. He had a gift for writing crisp and logical prose, easily understood, and colleagues began calling him “the Steve Jobs of medicine.”

Known widely for his kindness, optimism, radiant smile, and infectious laugh, Bud continued to see patients at Beth Israel Deaconess and to teach at Harvard Medical School. He met weekly with nephrology fellows and won the American Society of Nephrology’s highest award.

After Bayside High School in Queens, he studied history at Princeton, was athletics chair of Elm Club, and roomed with Baggot, Kadish, and St. John. He went on to NYU Medical School, the Navy, and then to Massachusetts.

The class shares its sadness with Gloria, daughters Emily Rose Mor and Anne Moller, son Daniel, brother Stephen, and five grandchildren.