The Board of Trustees and Officers of the National Institute of Social Sciences are shocked and saddened to learn of the death today of former Gold Medal Honoree Paul Edward Farmer. Dr. Farmer passed away in his sleep while in Rwanda. He was 62 years old.

Dr. Farmer was awarded the Gold Honor Medal of the National Institute in 2019 for his distinguished service to humanity.

Dr. Farmer was a medical anthropologist and physician who dedicated his life to improving healthcare for the world’s poorest people. Through Partners In Health and his other activities, he pioneered novel, community-based strategies to deliver high quality health care in some of the poorest nations around the world, including Haiti, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mexico, Peru, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and the Navajo Nation.

In his introduction of Dr. Farmer at the 2019 Gold Medal Gala, National Institute President Fred Larsen remarked that

“Almost 25 centuries ago, the Greek physician Hippocrates wrote:

Life is short,
and art long,
opportunity fleeting,
experimentations perilous,
and judgment difficult.”

We thank Dr. Farmer for giving so much to society in such a short period of time.

Further Reading:

Paul Edward Farmer and Peter Gelb to Receive 2019 Gold Medals

Remembering Dr. Paul Farmer, by Partners In Health

The Good Doctor, a profile in the New Yorker magazine from July 2000

On May 27, 2021, Dr. Farmer joined his former medical school classmate Christopher P. Austin, former Director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health, to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing healthcare after the COVID-19 pandemic. An edited video of their discussion can be found below.