Peter B. Polatin ’64

After a long and varied career as a psychiatrist, Peter died Aug. 17, 2024, from immune-deficient pneumonia.

Coming to Princeton from Riverdale Country School, he majored in biology, ate at Cap and Gown, and played piano in various jazz and rock and roll bands, including Ivory Jim and the Headhunters. Piano playing became a lifetime joy.

After Princeton, Peter earned a medical degree at Columbia, completed a psychiatry residency at UCLA, and later earned an M.P.H. at the University of Texas, Houston, to better help victims of natural disasters.

He began his career with the DC-based Medical Corps during the Vietnam War, earning the rank of lieutenant commander in the Navy. After four years as a Peace Corps physician in Liberia and Kenya, he eventually settled in California, where he met the love of his life, Emily Clark, marrying in 1982.

Peter worked for many years at PRIDE (Productive Rehabilitation Institute of Dallas for Ergonomics), treating chronic pain. Also concerned about global mental health, he assisted in relief efforts, including in post-war Bosnia and following Hurricane Katrina, and volunteered with the International Rescue Committee. In 2007, Peter became health program manager of DIGNITY (the Danish Institute Against Torture), and he later spent a decade on the faculty of Harvard’s Program in Refugee Trauma. Along the way, he scuba-dived from Costa Rica to Australia.

To Emily, their children, and families, the class offers its condolences.