In Memoriam

Phair was a leading investigator of HIV infection, and from 1987 to 2012 he served as chairman of the executive committee of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS), a National Institutes of Health (NIH) supported investigation of the natural history of HIV. Investigators from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of California at Los Angeles collaborated in this study, which was the first and groundbreaking evaluation of HIV infection. 

In 1987, with investigators at Rush University, Phair established the Chicago AIDS Clinical Trials Unit, a component of the NIH-funded consortium of 30 U.S. medical centers, termed the AIDS Clinical Trial Group, which evaluated treatment of HIV infection and its complications. From 1992 to 1994, Phair was selected to lead the executive committee of this group. Later, from 2000 to 2002, he chaired the AIDS Research and Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. 

In 2005, Phair was honored by the American College of Physicians with the John Phillips Memorial Award for Outstanding Work in Clinical Medicine. In 2010, Phair became the first recipient of the International AIDS Society–USA (IAS–USA) Lifetime Leadership Award. Upon his retirement, Feinberg established the John Phillip Phair Professor of Infectious Diseases Chair recognizing his inspiring dedication and leadership in his field. 

Born in Paris, France in 1934, Phair graduated from Yale University where he captained the swimming team and was selected for the All-American Team in his senior year. He graduated from the Medical College of the University of Cincinnati in 1960 and returned to Yale for training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. 

In lieu of military duty, from 1962 to 1964, Phair served in the U.S. Public Health Service at the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission in Hiroshima, Japan, where he conducted investigations into the late effects of radiation among the atomic bomb survivors. ln 1975, Phair took a sabbatical to work in Professor Chris Potter’s virology and immunology lab at the University of Sheffield Teaching Hospital in England. 

During his academic career, Phair authored more than 365 publications and 45 chapters in medical texts. He served as the president of the Central Society of Clinical Research and was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati. 

John was pre-deceased by his parents Phillis Wolfe and John Joseph Phair. He is survived by his wife, Nancy (née Routt), his son, Phillip, an IT consultant in Germany and wife Melanie Karzmyrski; his daughter, the recording artist Liz Phair; and his three beloved grandchildren, Nick Staskauskas, Acelya Phair, and Dillon Phair.