In Memoriam: Richard E. Kerber, MD (1939–2016)

Richard E. (Dick) Kerber, MD, FASE, a pioneer in echocardiography, myocardial function, coronary pathophysiology, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, died on 8 November 2016 at 77 years of age. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1939, graduated from Forest Hills High School in Queens in 1956, and then attended Columbia University, where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in anthropology in 1960. After receiving his medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine in 1964, he completed an internship and a year of medical residency training at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. Subsequently, he served as a captain in the United States Army Medical Corps and was assigned initially to Fort Monmouth in New Jersey. Serving in Vietnam from July 1967 to June 1968—first in a mobile Army surgical hospital and later in a small base hospital—he regularly flew on dangerous helicopter evacuation missions to rescue the wounded in the midst of firefights. For this, he was awarded a Bronze Star “for meritorious action against hostile forces.