In Memoriam: Martyn Richardson, D.O.
It is with sadness that I share that former fean of the New England College of Osteopathic Medicine - now the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine - Martyn Richardson, D.O., passed away on Saturday, January 22.
Dr. Richardson served as NECOM dean from 1983-1985. He also taught pediatrics during that period, as well as the Introduction to Clinical Medicine course from 1983-2008. In 1999, Dr. Richardson was awarded the Pioneer of Osteopathic Medicine medal, the highest honor given by the College.
He was a graduate of the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, where he taught pediatrics and later became a member and eventually chair of Kirksville’s Board of Trustees.
Dr. Richardson contributed greatly to the transition of NECOM and UNE from two separate institutions into an integrated university; in doing so, he remained dedicated to its founders’ intent to model and promote primary care and maintain its distinctiveness as an osteopathic institution.
He was a moral compass for osteopathic tenets of the whole person and the body's tendency to health in the curriculum, as well as a strong advocate for the fundamental skills of physical diagnosis, examination and medical documentation.
Even into his late eighties, Dr. Richardson would participate in class and small group discussions, which served to remind faculty and student alike of the promotion of health over the treatment of disease and the need to practice and model the knowledge, attitude and skills of the patient/physician relationship and clinical reasoning in the delivery of health care.
Dr. Richardson is survived by his wife, Nelda, and son, Don, who practices internal medicine in St. Louis, Mo. He was predeceased by their son John.
Marc B. Hahn, DO
Senior Vice President for Health Affairs
and Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine