Longtime School of Medicine faculty member Stuart Chen, M.D., Ph.D., died Oct. 17, 2020, at age 87.
Upon his passing, Dean Mary Anne Jackson wrote the following:
Dr. Chen completed his Internal Medicine residency and gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Minnesota. He then spent eight years at the West Virginia University School of Medicine prior to joining the School of Medicine faculty in 1977. As an early SOM Docent on the Gold 6 Unit and a Professor of Medicine, he joined Dr. E. Grey Dimond leading a large contingent of UMKC School of Medicine students and faculty on a trip to China in 1980. During his time as a Gold unit docent, he led 45 of our graduates from years 3 through 6.
Dr. Chen left the SOM and Truman Medical Centers for a three-year stent between 2001 and 2004 working as a gastroenterology consultant for the Rockwood Clinic in Spokane, Washington, before returning to UMKC and TMC. He continued this work until just recently when the COVID pandemic struck. Over the years, he has been involved in the education and training of countless students, residents, GI fellows and faculty. He was a dedicated medical staff member at Truman Medical Centers for more than 40 years, covering two tours of duty in the section of Gastroenterology Department of Medicine. Dr. Chen was a dedicated physician but more importantly, a gracious colleague who will be greatly missed by all of us.
Dean Richardson Noback, who worked together with Dr. Chen after his arrival on the faculty in 1977, stated that “he brought dignity and strength with the experience of both the medical and research degrees to his roles in the School of Medicine. He was always attentive, courteous, gracious, strong, and measured in his interactions with patients, house staff, students, and others.”
Our sympathies are extended to his family, friends and all of the staff and faculty at Truman Medical Centers, within our School of Medicine and to his community of family and friends. His wife, Yeh-Jung Lee Chen, preceded him in death in 2018 and their only child, Jennifer Chen Tyler, a beloved producer at KCUR and columnist with the Pitch, died in 2019, leaving behind her husband, Erik Tyler, and a young daughter.
Dr. Chen’s obituary is available here.
