Barry Arnason, first Chair of Neurology at UChicago, 1933-2023

Barry Arnason, MD, the founding Chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Chicago, died on July 17, 2023. He was 89 years old.

Arnason joined the faculty at UChicago in 1976 and led the department until 1996, establishing it as a nationally prominent program for both research and patient care. As a physician-scientist, he is considered to be one of the founders of the field of neuro-immunology, which focuses on understanding how the immune system and the nervous system communicate with each other and maintain the body's overall health.