Winthrop S. Risk *66

Winthrop S. Risk, who received his PhD in physics from Princeton in 1966, died July 11, 2003, a month shy of his 64th birthday.

Winthrop, who was Lebanese, led a rich and varied life. At Princeton he met his wife, Alice, who was also Lebanese. After graduation, Winthrop taught physics at the University of Maryland. In his early 30s, however, he decided there was little future for him in that field. Shifting careers dramatically, he attended medical school at the American University of Beirut, where the last three years of his training coincided with the Lebanese Civil War. As a medical student Winthrop spent much time attending to those wounded in the fighting. He also did research on subacute sclerosing panenceph-alitis, hunting down cases of the viral disease in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.

Subsequently, at the University of Iowa, Winthrop specialized in neurology. He died in a car accident while on his way to a medical conference on pain.

Winthrop is survived by his wife; his son, Win S. Risk II, who is also a neurologist; and his stepson, David Livingston.