The Union regrets to announce that Dr Reynard J. McDonald, internationally renowned tuberculosis (TB) expert and recipient of The Union North American Region Service Award, died on 27 August 2016, at his residence in New York.
Dr McDonald was born and raised in the small town of Sumter, South Carolina. He earned both his BA degree (Fisk University) and MD degree (Meharry Medical College) in Nashville, Tennessee. Following his internship at Meharry’s Hubbard Hospital, he completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at Columbia University’s First Medical Division at Harlem Hospital in New York City and began a fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine.
After completing the first year of his pulmonary fellowship, Dr McDonald was inducted as a Major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps; he served at Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Aurora, Colorado from 1971-1973, before being honourably discharged.
Following military service, he returned to New York City and completed fellowship training in Pulmonary Medicine at Harlem Hospital. In 1974 he joined the faculty of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, where he was Professor of Medicine. In 1994, Dr. McDonald was promoted to Medical Director of the Global TB Institute, the position he held until his retirement in 2014.
On 25 March 2008 the First Annual Reynard J. McDonald, MD World TB Day Lecture was held. The annual series is “endowed by a grateful patient in Dr McDonald’s honour to exemplify his compassion, empathy, and humanism.”
Dr McDonald was also selected as the faculty recipient of the 2009 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award presented by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation which “recognised a faculty member for excellence in both compassionate patient care and scientific achievement.”
In March 2013, Dr McDonald received, from the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, The Union North American Region Service Award to acknowledge his outstanding commitment to the control of TB during his career.
On 1 April 2014 Dr McDonald was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NJ Medical School’s Department of Medicine for his many decades of service and his internationally recognized contributions to the diagnosis and treatment of TB.
Dr Reynard J. McDonald is survived by his wife of over 50 years, Dianne Hemphill McDonald; his children, Rodney, Renée, Christopher, Steven and David; his grandsons, Jay IV and Julian; his brother-in-law, Nathan; his daughter-in-law, Alysia; his son-in-law, Jay III; and a large network of nephews, cousins, extended relatives, colleagues and close friends. He leaves the international community working to control TB a lasting legacy of achievement, always grounded in compassion.