Henrik H. Bendixen
December 2, 1923 - April 4, 2004
Published on the Columbia University Web Site on
4/8/2004.
 Henrik
H. Bendixen, 80, former vice president in charge of Columbia University's
medical, dental, nursing, and public health schools, died April 4 at his
home in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
"He brought rare qualities to the position of vice president and dean,
and he made even rarer contributions while on the job," said Gerald D.
Fischbach, Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences and
dean of the Faculty of Medicine. "We extend our condolences to his family
and friends and pledge to continue to honor his legacy to Columbia
University."
Bendixen was born in 1923 in Fredriksberg, Denmark , and graduated from
medical school at the University of Copenhagen. He completed his internship
and residency in Denmark and Sweden , interrupted briefly by a tour of duty
on the Danish Hospital Ship in Korea . In 1954, he arrived in the United
States for a residency in anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital in
Boston. He stayed at the hospital and in 1957 joined the faculty of Harvard
Medical School, holding both of those positions until 1969. After four years
as professor and department chief of anesthesia at the University of
California, San Diego, medical director of University Hospital, and
consultant to the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego, Bendixen joined the
faculty of Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1973
as professor and chairman of anesthesiology and director of the
anesthesiology service at Presbyterian Hospital.
In 1980, Bendixen served for nine months as acting provost and vice
president for the health sciences at Columbia , returning to the faculty in
1984 as Alumni Professor. He later was named the E.M. Papper Professor of
Anesthesiology.
His leadership of Columbia's health sciences division -- as vice
president for health sciences and dean of the Faculty of Medicine -- began
in 1984. His tenure was punctuated by a growing reliance on information
technology. He was instrumental in establishing the computer network at
Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.
When Columbia University decided to eliminate the School of Nursing to
cut costs, Bendixen stepped in to argue for its continuation. A
professorship in the School of Nursing is named for him.
He also supported the establishment of the Office of Clinical Trials, a
joint program with New York-Presbyterian Hospital that was one of the first
offices of its kind and today is one of the most often replicated clinical
trials offices in the world.
As professor and chairman of anesthesiology, he published several
scholarly papers on respiratory and circulatory physiology, the clinical
problems of hypoxia and respiratory failure, intensive care medicine, and
the cost-effectiveness of health care. The Department of Anesthesiology
established the Henrik H. Bendixen Professorship to honor his contributions.
When he stepped down in 1989, he became senior associate vice president
for health sciences and senior associate dean of the Faculty of Medicine
until his retirement in 1994, when he was named professor emeritus of
anesthesiology.
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