Alexander Bearn Obituary

Alexander G. Bearn, a longtime summer resident of North Stonington, Conn., died peacefully at home in Philadelphia on Friday, May 15, 2009, at the age of 86.
Dr. Bearn is survived by his loving family, his wife of 56 years, Margaret née Slocum, his daughter and son-in-law Helen and Russell Pennoyer of New York, his son and daughter-in-law Professor Gordon C.F. and Ellen Bearn of Bethlehem, Pa., and his five grandchildren, Gordon, Robert and Margaret Pennoyer, Cary and Alice Bearn, and his brother Michael Bearn of Hampshire, England.
Physician, scientist, early human geneticist and author, Dr. Bearn was Executive Officer of the American Philosophical Society, Professor of Medicine Emeritus of Cornell University Medical College and Physician-in-Chief at New York Hospital, Trustee Emeritus and Professor of the Rockefeller University and former Trustee of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He was also Senior Vice President of Medical and Scientific Affairs, International Division for Merck & Co.
Born in Cheam, Surrey, England, Dr. Bearn received his M.D. from the University of London and served with the Royal Air Force. After fellowships at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, he came to the U.S. in 1951 to the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, now Rockefeller University, where he pursued research in liver disease, Wilson's Disease and human genetics. A Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, the American College of Physicians, the Royal College of Physicians, London, Fellow Commoner of Christ's College, Cambridge University, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, he had also been President of the Harvey Society and the American Society for Human Genetics.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 21st, at The Brick Church, Park Avenue and 91st St., New York City, followed on Friday, May 22nd by a graveside service at 5 p.m. at the cemetery of the First Baptist Church, Pendleton Hill, in North Stonington, Conn., at the corner of Route 49 and Wyassup Road.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Philosophical Society or the Rockefeller University.