David A. Dichek ’76

David died March 2, 2024, in Seattle, of complications following open heart surgery. He was a professor at the University of Washington in the Division of Cardiology and the John L. Locke Jr. Family Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Research and Treatment since 2001.

Born and raised in Studio City, Calif., he came to Princeton after graduation from North Hollywood High School, as David described, “miles and worlds away.” He entered with the Class of 1975 and lived in Princeton Inn. Following a year’s leave of absence, David graduated Phi Beta Kappa with the highest academic rank in Romance languages.

After graduation, he taught science for three years at St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H., before entering medical school at UCLA. In 1977, on a ferryboat in Scandinavia, he met his future wife, Helén. They married in Sweden in 1980 and had a son in 1992, moving frequently for their careers. David was an internal medicine resident at Massachusetts General Hospital and a fellow in cardiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

He served as head of the cardiovascular gene therapy unit at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. He joined the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease and the faculty at the University of California, San Francisco in 1994. In addition to his work at the University of Washington, he maintained a clinical practice in general cardiology and an internationally known research program.

David was fluent in French and enjoyed his annual family bike trips that sometimes overlapped with the route of the Tour de France.

David is survived by his wife, Helén; son Daniel; and sister, Daryl.