Dr. Sheldon Krimsky, internationally esteemed scholar, and pioneer in environmental ethics
April 25, 2022
Dr. Sheldon Krimsky, internationally esteemed scholar, and pioneer in environmental ethics passed away unexpectedly in Cambridge, MA, April 23, 2022. He was 80. His probing works investigate the connection between science, ethics, and biotechnology, and illuminates the pernicious role chemicals play in the environment. A truly adored professor at Tufts University for 47 years, he held the distinguished position of Lenore Stern Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning. He also taught ethics to medical students at the Tufts University School of Medicine and was a visiting scholar at Columbia University, Brooklyn College, the New School and New York University. He attended Brooklyn College and received his MA from Purdue University, and PhD in Philosophy at Boston University.
In his prolific and inspirational academic career, Dr. Krimsky authored 17 books including Understating DNA Ancestry (Cambridge University Press), Genetic Alchemy (MIT Press), Biotechnics and Society (Praeger), Hormonal Chaos (Johns Hopkins), and Science in the Private Interest (Rowman and Littlefield). He also co-authored Environmental Hazards and Agricultural Biotechnology and the Environment and published more than 235 articles on the regulation and social and ethical aspects of science and technology.
Dr. Krimsky served on the National Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee of NIH and chaired the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility. He was also a consultant to the Office of Technology Assessment and most recently served on the Board of Directors for the Council for Responsible Genetics. He was also a Fellow of the Hastings Center on Bioethics, serving on the editorial board of seven noted journals.
Born in Brooklyn, he embraced his New York roots, eventually living part-time in Greenwich Village where he was often seen in Washington Square Park or getting his daily cup of coffee and a bagel in cafés or at the Green Market, where he always came home with a treat, usually apple pie. He also played guitar and harmonica, sometimes jamming with friends and writing and improvising songs. Fiercely loyal, kind, and supportive to family and friends, he was thoroughly devoted to teaching and to his students. He is survived by the love of his life, his wife Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky, playwright, visual artist, and author, and two adored children Alyssa Krimsky Clossey and Eliot Krimsky, along with their spouses Will Clossey and Lisa Benger, as well as three cherished grandchildren, Siona Rose Krimsky (age 3), Andrew Krimsky Clossey (age 18) and Benjamin Perry Clossey (age 20). He will be greatly missed.
In lieu of flowers, the family has established The Sheldon Krimsky Fund for Environmental Ethics and Values.
Read the Tufts Now story featured on April 28, 2022.
Learn more about his life's work at: https://sites.tufts.edu/sheldonkrimsky.
In his prolific and inspirational academic career, Dr. Krimsky authored 17 books including Understating DNA Ancestry (Cambridge University Press), Genetic Alchemy (MIT Press), Biotechnics and Society (Praeger), Hormonal Chaos (Johns Hopkins), and Science in the Private Interest (Rowman and Littlefield). He also co-authored Environmental Hazards and Agricultural Biotechnology and the Environment and published more than 235 articles on the regulation and social and ethical aspects of science and technology.
Dr. Krimsky served on the National Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee of NIH and chaired the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility. He was also a consultant to the Office of Technology Assessment and most recently served on the Board of Directors for the Council for Responsible Genetics. He was also a Fellow of the Hastings Center on Bioethics, serving on the editorial board of seven noted journals.
Born in Brooklyn, he embraced his New York roots, eventually living part-time in Greenwich Village where he was often seen in Washington Square Park or getting his daily cup of coffee and a bagel in cafés or at the Green Market, where he always came home with a treat, usually apple pie. He also played guitar and harmonica, sometimes jamming with friends and writing and improvising songs. Fiercely loyal, kind, and supportive to family and friends, he was thoroughly devoted to teaching and to his students. He is survived by the love of his life, his wife Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky, playwright, visual artist, and author, and two adored children Alyssa Krimsky Clossey and Eliot Krimsky, along with their spouses Will Clossey and Lisa Benger, as well as three cherished grandchildren, Siona Rose Krimsky (age 3), Andrew Krimsky Clossey (age 18) and Benjamin Perry Clossey (age 20). He will be greatly missed.
In lieu of flowers, the family has established The Sheldon Krimsky Fund for Environmental Ethics and Values.
Read the Tufts Now story featured on April 28, 2022.
Learn more about his life's work at: https://sites.tufts.edu/sheldonkrimsky.