February 27, 2007
Photograph of Dr. Al Tyroler

Photograph of Dr. Al Tyroler

Dr. Herman Alfred (Al) Tyroler, Allumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology at the UNC School of Public Health, died February 18, 2007. He was 82 years old.

Born September 5, 1924, in Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Tyroler graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Ohio University in 1943, received an MD from New York University College of Medicine in 1947, and completed additional medical training at Cornell University, New York Medical College and Metropolitan Hospital in New York City. He served in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps for two years before being appointed research director of the Occupational Health Services and, soon after, research director of the Health Research Foundation in Asheville, North Carolina.

In 1960 Dr. Tyroler joined the faculty of the Department of Epidemiology at the UNC School of Public Health. He held a full professorship from 1967 through 1979, after which he was named an Alumni Distinguished Professor. Dr. Tyroler’s career at UNC spanned more than 40 years, during which time he achieved national prominence for his work both in the United States and internationally, including long-time consultancy to the World Health Organization and the National Aviation and Space Administration. His influential studies in the areas of cardiovascular disease, genetics, minority health, women’s health and international health reflect the range of his intellectual curiosity.

He was elected to the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences in 1980. His numerous awards include:

  • Distinguished Achievement Award and the Ancel Keys Lecture (American Heart Association)
  • John Snow Award (American Public Health Association)
  • Edward G. McGavran Award for Excellence in Teaching (School of Public Health)
  • Bernard G. Greenberg Alumni Endowment Award (School of Public Health).

Dr. Tyroler will be remembered with affection and gratitude at the School of Public Health as a wise mentor, a lifelong learner and a brilliant teacher who shaped the lives of those with whom he worked. The Department of Epidemiology grants its highest honor to scholarship and outstanding contributions to public health achieved by its alumni as an award in the memory of H.A. Tyroler.

He was a loving and generous husband, father, grandfather, and brother. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn (Chapel Hill) and his children, William (Milwaukee), Barbara (Greenbelt, Maryland), and Steven (Chapel Hill) as well as his grandchildren, Samm Tyroler-Cooper (New York), Elisabeth (Chapel Hill), and Isaac (Minneapolis), and a sister, Leona (New York).

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made in memory of Dr. Herman A. (Al) Tyroler to

UNC-Chapel Hill School of Public Health Foundation, Inc.
CB# 7407
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7407

Please indicate that the gift is in memory of Al Tyroler, for the Department of Epidemiology.

 

For more information, contact Ramona DuBose, director of communications for the UNC School of Public Health, by telephone at 919-966-7467 or by email at ramona_dubose@unc.edu.

 

 

RELATED PAGES
CONTACT INFORMATION
Gillings Admissions: 233 Rosenau Hall, (919) 445-1170
Student Affairs: 263 Rosenau Hall, (919) 966-2499
Dean's Office: 170 Rosenau Hall, (919) 966-3215
Business and Administration: 170 Rosenau Hall, (919) 966-3215
Academic Affairs: 307 Rosenau Hall, (919) 843-8044
Inclusive Excellence: 207B Rosenau Hall, (919) 966-7430
Room Reservations
Facilities


135 Dauer Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400