Peter J. Cohen ’56

Pete died Aug. 14, 2010, as a result of pancreatic cancer in Washington, D.C.

Pete entered Princeton from the High School of Music & Art in New York City. At Princeton, he was active in Whig-Clio, managed the Princeton Band, and wrote for the literary magazine. He received the Freshman First Honors Prize and graduated with highest honors in chemistry.

After medical school at Columbia, Pete completed an anesthesiology residency at the University of Pennsylvania and then served in the Army, conducting research at Walter Reed and setting up a hospital in Japan for wounded soldiers from Vietnam. He chaired the departments of anesthesiology at the University of Colorado and the University of Michigan, conducted research on the effects of anesthesia on the brain, served as an editor of the journal Anesthesiology, and chaired the Council of Academic Anesthesia Chairmen.

After retirement, Pete graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and became an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown. He also chaired the physicians’ health committee of the D.C. Medical Society.

Pete is survived by his wife, Cynthia; three children, Holly Cooper, Elizabeth Cohen, and Christopher J. Cohen ’86; six grandchildren; and his brother, Nicholas ’59.