My father wore many hats; he was a physician with a specialty in Ears, Nose and Throat; he was a sociologist, earning his doctorate at Columbia University, during WWII, even though he was in the army, serving in intelligence. And his third graduate degree was a Master’s in Public Health. He was an historian of medicine, writing seminal works in that field and which he taught at Yale University. Before teaching at Yale, he taught at Columbia's School of Public Health, a field which he knew first hand, having been a New York City health officer "on the beat", as well as directing offices and initiatives which he developed or assisted in developing for the Health Department. He also gained experience at HIP, where he was charged with overseeing Public Health Education. He worked tirelessly as editor of various journals, (for example, The American Journal of Public Health), held offices in national organizations in the history of medicine and in public health and wrote books, articles, reviews, and editorials. Among the books he translated from German into English was "Man in Structure and Function," by Fritz Kahn. George Rosen, whose name appears on his birth certificate as Joseph, was an extraordinary individual (a view a child can hold of their parent) whose curiosity about the world shaped my attitudes and helped me become an historian who looks beyond the boundaries of my field . My father was a loving parent who helped my brother and myself develop our interests: the visual arts was the gift he gave to both of us. Each of us learned how to draw, thanks to his great skill in painting. Knowledge and practice were lessons learned from him. And integral to his success and enjoyment of life was his wife, my mother, Beate Brigitta Caspari-Rosen, M.D.. She stood by his side throughout his brief but full life.
