Ranice W. Crosby, Professor and Director Emerita of the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine, illustrator, writer, archivist, and venerated teacher died on February 18, 2007.

Ranice arrived at Hopkins in 1937 to study medical illustration under Max Brödel.  In 1943, she became the first woman to direct a department at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, serving as the Director of the Department for 40 years until she stepped down in 1983.  As Director Emerita, she continued to teach in the department for another 22 years.

A founding member of the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI), she contributed to the development of our profession and led it to the successful establishment of accredited graduate programs.  Under her leadership, the instructional program in Medical and Biological Illustration was elevated to a graduate level degree in 1961.  She was honored by the AMI in 1987 as a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.  In recognition of her dedication to teaching and significant contributions to the field of medical illustration, Johns Hopkins University conferred the honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters upon her in May 2002.

She has inspired and encouraged her students to become the finest members of the profession.
The Ranice W. Crosby Memorial will be held on Friday May 18, 2007 at 4:00.