Kennedy W. Gilchrist ’60

Ken graduated from Evanston Township (Ill.) High School, where he participated in student government and ran track. With us, he majored in biology, joined the Student Christian Society and Whig-Clio, and worked for the Campus Fund Drive and the Nassau Herald. Senior year he shared the Henry Towers executive suite with five others and took his meals at Wilson Lodge.

Ken earned a medical degree at University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1964 and did his residency in anatomic pathology at Rush Medical College, Chicago, in 1966. He served two years in the Army Medical Corps, including a year in South Korea. After further studies in pathology at the University of Wisconsin Hospital, Madison, he joined the staff as a surgical pathologist for a career of more than 30 years. Ken co-published numerous pathology and oncology papers and expanded the school’s pathology program. He retired in 2003 as professor emeritus of the School of Medicine and Public Health.

Ken shared a lifetime — “since 1948!” — of frustration with fellow Chicago Bears fans, assuaged in part by his love of early classical music and Wagner’s operas. He was an enthusiastic traveler, frequently to seaside birding sites. He was “a craniac” and longtime supporter of the International Crane Foundation.

Ken died June 22, 2025. He is survived by his wife, Heidi; a son and daughter from his first marriage; Heidi’s son and daughter; three grandchildren; and their families.