In memoriam: Laurel Elder

Laurel Elder

Laurel Elder, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Pathology in Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine, passed away Thursday, Oct. 2.

Elder was an esteemed teacher, researcher, laboratory clinician and chair of the Institutional Review Board at the School of Medicine. She came to Wright State in 1986 to serve as an adjunct associate professor of microbiology and immunology. She was named associate professor in the Departments of Pathology and Internal Medicine in 2005.

Her peers shared that she was an amazing, beloved faculty member who went above and beyond to support students and would be sorely missed.

In addition to her impressive list of published research, Elder had an extensive record of service to the university, her profession and her community. She served on the Step 1 Microbiology Committee for the National Board of Medical Examiners since 2011, the B1 Curriculum Committee in the medical school since 2005 and as chair of the committee from 2010 to 2012. She also provided invaluable service as a member of the Wright State University Institutional Review Board since 1989 and as its chair since 2005. She received the School of Medicine’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2010, 2009, 2004 and 1998.

She was a member of the American Society of Microbiology, the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the South Central Association for Clinical Microbiology.

Elder earned her Ph.D. in medical microbiology from the University of Vermont and was a postdoctoral fellow in clinical and public health microbiology at the Mayo Clinic. She was certified as a diplomate in public health and clinical microbiology by the American Board of Medical Microbiology and as a medical technologist by the American Society for Clinical Pathology.

She also served as an Elder at Sugarcreek Presbyterian Church and vice moderator of the Presbytery of the Miami Valley.

A memorial service for Dr. Elder will be held on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 10 a.m., at Sugar Creek Presbyterian Church, 4417 Bigger Road Kettering, Ohio 45440.