Robert Jaffe (M.D. 1957), professor emeritus of physiology and obstetrics and gynecology, died on June 22 at the age of 87. Born in Detroit, Jaffe met his lifelong companion, Evie Grossman, in high school. The two married in 1954 and raised two children.
After graduating from U-M Medical School, Jaffe did an internship and residency at the University of Colorado and a fellowship at the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm). He joined the U-M Medical School faculty in 1964, working there till 1973, when he became chairman of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF). He spent the remaining 38 years of his career at UCSF, establishing the Reproductive Endocrinology Center (now called the Center for Reproductive Sciences) and mentoring several generations of physicians and physician scientists who became leaders in reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI).
Jaffe was a pioneer in REI and received many honors and awards. He was the former president of the Endocrine Society's Hormone Foundation (now the Hormone Health Network) and was an elected member of the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) and the Association of American Physicians.
An avid reader and sports fan, Jaffe also was an enthusiastic patron of the performing arts.
This obituary was adapted from an announcement by the USCF medical school and an obituary published in the San Francisco Chronicle.