Passing of Thomas Q. Morris, MD
Dear Colleagues,
We are deeply saddened to share news of the passing of our dear colleague Thomas Q. Morris, MD, ’58 who held multiple leadership roles at Columbia and Presbyterian Hospital, including interim chair of the Department of Medicine, vice dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine, and associate dean of academic affairs. After serving as president and CEO of Presbyterian Hospital, today known as NewYork-Presbyterian, from 1985 to 1990, Dr. Morris was vice president for programs at the New York Academy of Medicine. He returned to Columbia in 1994 to focus on advancing educational programs. Dr. Morris was awarded numerous honors during his singular career at Columbia, and retired as Alumni Professor Emeritus of Clinical Medicine in 2003.
Dr. Morris was an exceptional physician, educator, scientist, and mentor whose remarkable dedication to the Columbia community spanned more than five decades, beginning with his medical education at Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, from which he graduated in 1958 after earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame. After completing his residency at Bellevue Hospital, where he was chief resident, and serving two years as a U.S. Air Force captain at a large military hospital base, Dr Morris returned to Columbia for a fellowship before joining the faculty in 1964.
His transformative educational leadership included numerous administrative roles: interim dean for clinical and educational affairs; course director for the third-year clerkship in the Department of Medicine; director of the Student Health Service for the medical center campus; chair of the Curriculum Committee; and director of the “Introduction to the Patient” course. Dr. Morris played a critical role in creating a new academic track for Columbia’s medical students, the Columbia-Bassett Program, which allows students to follow a panel of patients for a full year across specialties through a longitudinal integrated curriculum in partnership with the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York. An endowment was established to support an annual symposium in Dr. Morris’s name at Columbia to explore the future of medical education. He continued to contribute to the Columbia community long after his retirement, including chairing the medical school’s magazine editorial board until 2021.
During his time as president of Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Morris helped grow the hospital’s reach across Northern Manhattan communities to provide outstanding care to more patients, leading the establishment in 1988 of what is today known as NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital.
Dr. Morris’ influence reached beyond the medical center and hospital through his service as chair of the board of trustees of the Bassett Hospital; as chair of the New York Academy of Medicine board; and as a former trustee of Presbyterian Hospital and several nonprofit foundations. Dr. Morris was chair of the Board of Trustees of the American University of Beirut, from which he received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 2009. He was introduced to AUB in 1982 when he was part of a New York state education department team sent to evaluate AUB’s accreditation, a process neglected for many years during Lebanon’s civil war.
Our thoughts are with Dr. Morris’ loved ones, including his children, Thomas P. Morris, Amy C. Morris Pickens and MaryAnne B. Morris, and his grandchildren. His wife, Jacqueline “Jackie” Ingram Morris, died in 2021.
The standard Dr. Morris set for excellence and compassion continues to inspire and motivate us all. He will be greatly missed.
Best,
Katrina A. Armstrong, MD
Chief Executive Officer, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Interim President, Columbia University in the City of New York
James M. McKiernan, MD
Interim Dean, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Chief Executive Officer, ColumbiaDoctors