Celebrating a Life Well-Lived and a Career Much-Respected

Today, the MWU academic family joined with the family of Dr. Kenneth Suarez to celebrate his life. Dr. Suarez died last Sunday, after fighting a courageous battle against cancer. For the entire 35-year span of his career, he served the students, faculty, and administration of MWU and CCOM. Hundreds of friends, family members, and colleagues packed the auditorium to hear stories of his life, to laugh, to cry, and to remember our dear friend.

Dr. Suarez earned his degrees in pharmacology at Rhode Island University. A native New Yorker, he wed the love of his life, Eileen, and they had one cherished daughter, Christine. He began his career at CCOM as a teacher and researcher. Over the years, his commitment to his field of pharmacology and to his students grew to include his love of research. He became a mentor to many other faculty members and nurtured their research interests and abilities. Under Dr. Suarez's leadership, MWU developed a strong research program for the faculty, one of the first osteopathic medical schools to have a genuine director of research. In addition to his role as Professor of Pharmacology, Dr. Suarez eventually took on an administrative role, as Associate Vice President of Research & Sponsored Programs for MWU's two campuses. He provided critical advice to the administration about the faculty and their research roles. He created summer research programs for students as well as a campus-wide research day showcasing student and faculty research. His professional accomplishments and influence will long reverberate on our campuses. As many colleagues noted, his shoes are too big to fill.

While many of us knew and respected Dr. Suarez as a pharmacologist, a teacher, and a researcher, his family shared their memories of Ken as a husband, a father, a brother, and a friend. He loved cars, fine food and red wine (best if priced under $10 at Costco!), antiques, and bargain shopping. He enjoyed nature, riding his bike, and political debates. He was genuine, honest, and had the utmost integrity. He loved his family and was loved by them in return. In short, Ken lived a good life and was liked and respected by all who knew him.

While it was difficult for all of us to say goodbye to Ken today, we know that his struggle has ended and he is at peace. Today's service reminded us of the values that matter most in life. Not wealth, not fame, not the trappings of success. Rather, Ken's life reflected the values of family, of integrity, of sincerity, and of being truly a nice guy. I hope we can all carry a little bit of Ken's spirit with us throughout our careers and lives.