Michael Alan Grodin, MD

Michael Alan Grodin, MD, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and brother passed away peacefully on March 1, 2023. Michael was born in Santa Monica, California on December 26, 1951. The child of Jewish educators, he was instilled with a strong passion for both faith and lifelong learning from a young age. Michael traveled east in 1967 to attend MIT and went on to earn his medical degree at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, where he met his beloved Nancy. They married and settled in Boston in 1978.

Michael had an illustrious and unique career at Boston University, where he served for over forty years. He was the resident medical ethicist and head of the hospital’s ethics committee at Boston City Hospital and later, Boston Medical Center. He was a Professor of Health Law, Ethics and Human Rights at the Boston University School of Public Health, where he mentored and educated countless students and received many teaching awards. Among the many projects he engaged in and roles he filled, Dr. Grodin was the Co-Founder of Global Lawyers and Physicians: Working Together for Human Rights and received a special citation from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in recognition of his “profound contributions - through original and creative research - to the cause of Holocaust education and remembrance.” He was an expert in the history of Nazi medicine and Jewish medical and spiritual resistance during the Shoah.

Michael was also Director of the Project on Ethics and the Holocaust at the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies at BU where he served as Professor of Jewish Studies and taught numerous courses on Jewish Medical and Bioethics. He was founding director of the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights: Caring for Survivors of Torture, which received the 2002 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project for “sensitivity and dedication in caring for the health and human rights of refugees and survivors of torture.”

While working with refugees, he became interested in complementary and alternative therapies to help care for ethnically and culturally diverse populations. He always sought to understand, learn from, and communicate with others with sensitivity and compassion. He went on to become a licensed medical acupuncturist and tai chi instructor.

In addition to his role as student, teacher, mentor, and physician, he was a devoted family man. He and Nancy were married more than 45 years, and he loved and cherished her above all else. He was also incredibly proud of his son Joshua, Joshua’s wife Amy, his daughter Leah, and Leah’s husband Michael Richler. He treasured the time spent with his five grandchildren, Max, Sophie and Hailey Grodin, and Jacob and Hannah Richler. Michael is also survived by his sister, Susan Felz (Jeff), sister-in-law Helena Davidoff (Neil), brother-in-law Bruce Nozick, nieces Nancy Felz (Garrett), Judy Felz, Laura Davidoff Fox (Brett), nephew Adam Davidoff (Peggy) and dear great nieces, nephews and cousins.

Michael lived his life in service of others and his legacy will live on in his medical and humanitarian work, through the work of the countless students and colleagues who were inspired by him, and with his much-loved family.

Services at Levine Chapels, 470 Harvard Street, Brookline on Friday, March 3 at 10:30AM. Masks are required. If you are not feeling well, please attend virtually. Burial to follow at Polonnoe Cemetery, 776 Baker Street, West Roxbury.

To livestream the service www.tinyurl.com/MichaelGrodin

Prayer minyans and visiting will occur in the first floor function room at 1501 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA 02446. Masks are required.

Minyan times:

Saturday evening 3/4 7:00 pm

Sunday 3/5 9:00 am and 7:00 pm

Monday 3/6 7:30 am

Tuesday 3/7 7:30 pm

Wednesday 3/8 7:00 am and 7:30 pm

Visiting hours:

Saturday evening 3/4 7:30 - 9:00 pm

Sunday 3/5 2-4:00 pm

Wednesday 3/8 5-7:00 pm

Virtual visiting hours:

Wednesday 3/8 1-2:30 pm,

tinyurl.com/virtual-shiva

In lieu of flowers, donations in Michael's memory may be made to the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies at Boston University, https://www.bu.edu/jewishstudies/ or Boston University School of Public Health in support of its human rights work, https://www.bu.edu/sph/give/