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General University News
The Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics (www.stonybrook.edu/bioethics) will develop into a university-wide program with a five-fold mission: Provide excellent education to students and professionals in health care and throughout the entire university; contribute outstanding research integrating the sciences and humanities through faculty networks across the university; provide local, regional, and national service to health professionals, policy makers, and the public; promote a nationally prominent “Stony Brook Dialogue” between the humanities, the sciences, religious traditions, and the professions on the questions raised by expanding biotechnologies; and develop one of the nation’s leading website and media venues to enhance informed public debate. “Dr. Post is an inspiring and thought-provoking teacher and widely respected scholar whose research into altruism and compassionate love in health care is seminal,” says President Kenny. “We are privileged that Dr. Post has joined our distinguished faculty. His experience and large body of work is sure to help create a dynamic center for the University and community.” “The depth and breadth of research at Stony Brook University in virtually every department, and the quality of care provided by the Medical Center, create a huge opportunity to build a phenomenal program,” says Dr. Post, also appointed Professor of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Post has focused on the study of altruism and compassion across a variety of disciplines for the past 25 years. During the 1990s, Dr. Post’s research on the dynamics of compassionate love in the lives of persons with dementia and their caregivers resulted in his being elected member of the Medical and Scientific Board of Alzheimer’s Disease International. He remains on that board and has also served on the National Ethics Advisory Board for the Alzheimer's Association, in which he was recognized in 1998 for “distinguished service.” Dr. Post was personally selected to lead the first international research institute on compassion and altruism by Sir John Templeton, the late billionaire investor and worldwide philanthropist who founded the institute in 2001. The culmination of Dr. Post’s scholarly and public work – much of that centered on the concept that giving behavior enhances life and improves health – has resulted in nine published books, as well as more than 130 peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Post has chaired nine national conferences and delivered numerous lectures in the United States and abroad. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the John Templeton Foundation. One of his recent books has become an international success and been printed in 11 languages. Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How the Simple Act of Giving Can Bring You a Longer, Happier, Healthier Life, published in 2007 by Random House, has reached millions worldwide and features groundbreaking research that shows that when we give of ourselves, everything from self-satisfaction to overall health is significantly affected. He and co-author, journalist Jill Neimark, illustrate with real-life stories that the growing science of love and profound giving unlocks the doors to long-term health, reduced depression and delayed mortality. (www.whygoodthingshappen.com) In 2008, World Literacy Canada selected Why Good Things Happen for its annual Kama Book Award in medical humanities. Dr. Post is also editor-in-chief of the definitive, five-volume Encyclopedia of Bioethics. Many of his articles and essays have appeared in journals such as Science, The International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, The Journal of Religion, The American Journal of Psychiatry, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and The Lancet. A member of the American Academy of Religion, American Philosophical Association, and the American Geriatrics Society, Dr. Post has received numerous awards and distinctions. For example, his writing was selected for Best American Spiritual Writing 2005. In 2004, Dr. Post was elected a Distinguished Fellow of College of Physicians of Philadelphia for “significant contributions to medicine.” He was elected Member of the International Society for Science and Religion (2003) and received a Special Recognition Award for outstanding service to the ethics committee by the American Geriatrics Society (2001). Dr. Post earned a Ph.D. in philosophical and religious ethics from the University of Chicago (1983), where he received a “distinction” for his dissertation on compassionate love and human fulfillment, was elected a University Fellow, and taught in the Pritzker School of Medicine as well as in the University Core Humanities program. He attended Reed College in Oregon on a humanities scholarship, as well as Southampton College (B.S., 1973), where he studied biology and marine science. A native of Babylon, Long Island, N.Y., Dr. Post lives in Setauket with his wife, Mitsuko Sugawara and their son, Andrew, age 14. They also have a daughter, Emma, age 24. -30- © Copyright 2012 by Stony Brook University |
