Those who knew trustee emerita and medical executive Elaine Kirshenbaum say she was deeply devoted in all aspects of her life, whether fighting for patients’ rights or caring for her family.

Kirshenbaum (CAS’71, SED’72, SPH’79) died on October 24, 2016. She was 67.

“Elaine was a force of nature—a vibrant and vivacious woman,” says trustee emeritus Robert Knox (CAS’74, Questrom’75), longtime trustee chair, now a Board of Overseers member. “As a trustee, she was opinionated and spoke her mind forthrightly on many of the issues before the board. As I got to know her, I found that she was an accomplished medical executive who was a relentless fighter for patient access to quality medical care. But above all, I admire Elaine for the amazing family she loved and nurtured.”

The former vice president of policy, planning, and member services at the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS)—the statewide professional association for medical students and physicians and publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine—tirelessly advocated for patients’ rights.

A BU trustee from 2000 to 2014, Kirshenbaum served on many committees, including student affairs. Trustee Sharon Ryan, who joined the board at the same time and chaired that committee, says she enjoyed working with Kirshenbaum. “We had several interesting discussions on how students are changing,” says Ryan (SAR’70). “I admired Elaine’s commitment to Boston University.”

Kirshenbaum earned a bachelor’s and a master’s in counseling, and a master’s in epidemiology at BU. Her daughter, Jennifer Kirshenbaum (LAW’05), and son, Daniel Kirshenbaum (CAS’07, MED’11), are also Terriers.

“BU was always part of the fabric of Elaine’s life,” says Beverly Brown, wife of BU President Robert A. Brown, who recalls that after Kirshenbaum’s husband, Howard, died in 2010, she and Kirshenbaum would often take long walks around the Charles River and the campus “to contemplate the meaning of life without one’s soul mate and ultimately to ponder how to create a life. When we couldn’t get together to walk, we would text each other continually. First and foremost, her family, specifically her kids and her mother, were the absolute focus of her life. She and I could be in the most intense discussion on a walk when Jen or Danny would call, and Elaine was bubbly and bright as she answered, asking if everything is okay and when they were coming over next. She worried far more about her kids’ well-being than she did her own.”

Medicine and public health were also part of the fabric of her family’s life. Howard Kirshenbaum was a renowned cardiologist (in 2011, the School of Medicine established a lectureship in his honor). Daniel Kirshenbaum is a hospitalist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

As well as her work at the MMS, Kirshenbaum was on the board of directors of the nonprofit Massachusetts Health Quality Partners, a group dedicated to improving the quality of health care services in Massachusetts.

“Elaine was a believer and a fighter,” says Jeanne Knox, chair of BU’s Parents Leadership Council. “She demonstrated this in every aspect of her life. Professionally, she fought for the rights of others, and personally, she fought to make her family as good and strong and resilient as she possibly could. BU was her family, too. What she has left behind are remarkable children, an excellent institution, and colleagues who loved her as much as she loved them. Quite a remarkable legacy, I’d say.”

“Elaine was an extraordinary woman,” says Alan Leventhal (Hon.’09), a trustee emeritus and former board chair. “She brought great intellect, passion, and warmth to everything that she touched.”