Yitzchak ben Nachum Eliahu v’Esther Hannah
December 7, 1938 – April 8, 2025
Robert Resnik, M.D. was born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Nathan and Elsie Resnik. Upon graduation from Yale University he completed his medical education at Case-Western Reserve University Medical School. It was during his training in Cleveland where he met his wife Lauren, with whom he shared 58 years of marriage before her untimely death this past January. Together they were blessed with two loving children, Andrew (Jamie) and Jamie (Kevin), and four grandchildren, Max and Julia Resnik and Cassidy and Cody Wechter. Bob is also survived by his brother Jonathan (Lillian) and loving nieces, nephews, cousins, colleagues and friends.
Bob will be remembered by all who knew him for his kind and generous spirit and his sense of humor. He greeted everyone with a smile and always had a twinkle in his eye. He was dedicated to his family first and foremost, but spent his career focusing on women’s health and training future physicians.
Bob, as he was known, completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale in 1970. He then entered the United States Army as a Major. While he was stationed at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, he was appointed Director of the Obstetrical Division. He then pursued a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Colorado, Denver. There, he worked with leaders in the field of fetal physiology.
In 1974, Bob joined the UCSD (University of California, San Diego) faculty at the end of his fellowship in Denver and was appointed Assistant Professor. Bob served as Director for the Division of Obstetrics and was subsequently promoted to Chair of the Department of Reproductive Sciences in 1983. He held this position through 1995, when he became Associate Dean for Admissions at the UCSD School of Medicine.
Early in his time at UCSD, Bob and his counterpart at the University of California San Francisco joined forces to edit the textbook, Maternal-Fetal Medicine: Principles and Practice. Together, they updated the next seven editions, a work that remains an important contribution to the sub-specialty of Maternal-Fetal Medicine. The textbook, published in several languages, became the standard tome in the discipline and a medical bestseller.
Bob served as the President of the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society (2009–2010), the American Gynecological Club (2002), and the Perinatal Research Society (1985). In 2002, Bob was awarded a Fellowship ad eundem by the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists. The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine honored Bob with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Moreover, he received several recognitions for his teaching and mentorship: the UCSD School of Medicine Faculty Mentor of the Year Award (2005), the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics Excellence in Teaching Award (1996), and the Joseph M. Didio Award in Recognition of Outstanding Resident Teaching (1975, 1978, 1979). Bob has also mentored a legion of leaders in Academic Medicine.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Jewish Family Service of San Diego.
Zichrono Livracha. May his memory be for a blessing.