Henry D. Betts ’50

When Hank died in Chicago Jan. 4, 2015, after a long illness, the world lost an internationally revered champion for people with disabilities.

Hank majored in biology at Princeton and belonged to Dial. He earned his medical degree from Virginia. After two years of service in the Marine Corps, the realization that, in his words, “the disabled were being discarded” prompted him to become a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Following his residency in 1963, he joined the staff of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), which then occupied a warehouse with three attending physicians and 15 patients. Under his leadership, RIC grew and now employs 62 attending and 145 consulting physicians, occupies a 20-story hospital, and cares for 52,000 patients annually. U.S. News and World Report has ranked the hospital No. 1 in its field since 1991.

While devoting his career to transforming physical medicine and rehabilitation from a minor discipline to an essential health-care specialty, he also brought his knowledge and charisma to the boards of countless other organizations associated with disabilities and rehabilitation. He convinced Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to introduce wheelchair curb cuts (which allow people to move off sidewalks with less difficulty) well before their national mandate.

Our sympathy goes to Hank’s wife, Monika; his daughter, Amanda; and granddaughter Lucia.