Donald Harvey Gilden ’59

Donald Harvey Gilden ’59 died on August 22, 2016. He entered Dartmouth from Baltimore City College High School and majored in biology. He received his M.D. from the University of Maryland in 1963 and completed his residency in neurology at the University of Chicago. Following residency, he served as a physician in the Army for two years at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Don continued his medical career in the Philadelphia area before moving west in 1985 to become chairman of the neurology department at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where he served for about 25 years. During his chairmanship the department grew from fewer than 10 faculty members to more than 50. His research was frequently funded by the National Institutes of Health and he published more than 400 scientific papers and book chapters. He also edited several books on viral infections of the central nervous system. His 1994 editorial published in The New England Journal of Medicine promoted increased attention to the development of shingles vaccines. In addition to his passion for medicine, Don was an accomplished violinist, playing each morning and frequently performing at scientific conferences he was attending. He was also an avid skier. He leaves Audrey, his wife of almost 50 years; sons Daniel ’91, Adam and Paul; sister Devora; and six grandchildren.