Aaron Reuben Rausen ’51


Aaron Reuben Rausen ’51 died on July 7 of pancreatic cancer at Calvary Hospital Hospice in the Bronx, New York. Born in Jersey City, he grew up in New York City, attended Stuyvesant High School and at Dartmouth majored in English and philosophy, worked for campus radio station WDBS and served as managing editor of the Dartmouth Quarterly. After his junior year he went to State University of New York Medical School in New York City, obtaining his medical degree in 1954 and a Phi Beta Kappa key. His pediatric training in New York City was followed by two years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in Arizona and then more training in pediatric hematology in Boston before returning to New York City in 1961. There he pursued his career as a clinician-investigator-academic at Mount Sinai School for Medicine for 20 years, during which time he married Emalou Watkins, a well-known fashion designer. By 1972 they had two daughters and a son. In 1981 he became a professor of pediatrics at the New York University School of Medicine and its principal investigator for clinical trials in pediatric cancer. In 1990 he was named founding director of the Stephen D. Hassenfeld Children’s Center for cancer and blood disorders at New York University Medical Center. For his contributions to children’s health and his devotion to Dartmouth and his class he was honored with a Spirit of ’51 Award in 2003. Aaron is survived by Emalou, children Susan, Elisabeth and David ’90 and three grandchildren.