Jay I. Meltzer ’49

Jay died July 3, 2021, in Manhattan. 

He was pre-med at Princeton and a member of Key & Seal. He majored in biology and graduated with election to Phi Beta Kappa. 

Jay spent the bulk of his career at Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, starting with his internship and residency in 1953. Upon earning a medical degree there, he was appointed to the medical school’s faculty. He worked with patients suffering from kidney disease and high blood pressure, and when the Department of Medicine established a specialized division for the treatment of hypertension and kidney disease, Jay was chosen to lead it.

Among Jay’s many achievements was the development of renal dialysis for analyzing and treating kidney transplants and chronic kidney disease. In addition to his academic responsibilities in the laboratory and classroom at Columbia, he had an extensive private practice in internal medicine, providing individual treatment to patients, his colleagues, and their families, plus many indigent and homeless patients he treated at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Jay is survived by his wife, Pamela; and his three children, Paul, Carl, and Lisa. We send our condolences to them for a life well-lived.