Gary Lees

Gary Lees, former longtime director of the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine (1983–2017) and an international leader in the education of professional medical illustrators, died Dec. 20, 2024, at age 81.

Lees, who earned a master’s degree in medical illustration from University of Michigan, joined Johns Hopkins in 1970 as an illustrator for the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute and an instructor in the medical and biological illustration graduate program. He was promoted to assistant professor in 1972, associate professor in 1980 and professor in 2016. He was named director of the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine in 1983.

A transformative leader, Lees led the department through a period of dramatic change — the transition of medical illustration from entirely hand-drawn and hand-delivered artwork to digitally produced and disseminated works. He established and built programs that ensured the department’s technology and curriculum remained in the vanguard of the field, adding such innovations as 3D animation and sculpture and interactive design.

As director of the Johns Hopkins graduate program in medical and biological illustration from 1983–2013, he developed and taught more than 30 courses and advised 75 graduate students for their master’s essays.

“For those fortunate to study and teach at Hopkins during Gary’s leadership, the program truly changed their lives,” says Cory Sandone, M.S. ’86, department director since 2018. “He supported students in their studies here — with care and encouragement during their struggles and great pride in their successes. And then, to an extraordinary degree, Gary embraced the various directions graduates took their careers. His encouragement, support and interest in their careers and lives continued well after graduation.”

After 50 years in the department, Lees retired in 2020. As professor emeritus, he continued teaching. Over the course of his career, he contributed illustrations to more than 100 publications, prepared numerous scientific and historical exhibits, and taught more than 225 graduate students.