Bennett Mueller Stein ’52

Bennett Mueller Stein ’52, M.D., passed away on October 7, 2022, in New Jersey after a short illness. Ben was born on February 2, 1931, and grew up in Ridgefield, New Jersey. He entered Dartmouth, where he earned a degree in medicine in 1952 and was a member of both Phi Delta Theta and Alpha Kappa Kappa. Ben began the two-year Dartmouth medical course, finishing medical school at McGill University in 1955. He then fulfilled his military obligation in the U.S. naval hospitals at Bethesda, Maryland, and Great Lakes, Illinois. After completing his residency, Ben became a special fellow of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness in neuroanatomy and studied at Columbia University. In 1971 he became professor and chairman of neurological surgery at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. In 1980 he returned to Columbia as professor of neurological surgery and chairman of the department at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, retiring at 65. Ben also served on numerous medical associations during his career. Ben collected exotic automobiles and applied his attention to detail to operate on them, earning the title “Car Doctor.” In 1955 he married Doreen Holmes, who predeceased him in 1984, and then married Bonita Soontit, who predeceased him in 2020. In 2021 he married Hazue Tamura, who survives with children Susan, Marjorie, and Bennett; son-in-law Warren; and granddaughter Rebecka.