In Memory: Albert L. Sheffer, MD, FAAAAI, and Sheldon L. Spector, MD, FAAAAI

Albert L. Sheffer, MD, FAAAAI
Albert L. Sheffer, MD, FAAAAI, a past President of the AAAAI, passed away on December 22. He is survived by his wife, Barbara, his four children and his grandchildren.

He had received the AAAAI Distinguished Service Award in 1993 in addition to other AAAAI honorary awards in 2004 and 2013. Sheffer was also the first chair of the expert panel that generated the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's (NHLBI) Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Asthma.

Sheffer was born and raised in Pennsylvania and graduated from Franklin and Marshall College and George Washington University Medical School. He completed his internal medicine and pulmonary training at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate Hospital and completed an allergy/immunology fellowship at Temple University Hospital.

He was eventually appointed to Harvard Medical School in 1964 and also joined the Brigham and Women's Hospital in 1966. Sheffer helped establish the Allergy Clinic and began the Allergy Training Program which has educated over 100 trainees. He engaged in private practice from 1969 until 1993, when he became a full-time staff member of the Brigham, serving as the director of Allergy until 1998.The family asks that contributions be made to the Albert L. Sheffer, MD, Fellowship Fund For Allergic Diseases in his honor. A full obituary can be found here.

Sheffer was a major donor to the AAAAI Foundation and his generous support has helped fund the future of the specialty.

Sheldon L. Spector, MD, FAAAAI
Sheldon L. Spector, MD, FAAAAI, passed away December 29. He is survived by his wife, Judith, his three children and his grandchildren.

He received the AAAAI Distinguished Service Award in 2014 and was heavily involved with the Joint Task Force on Practice Parameters. He was a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and the American Board of Allergy and Immunology (ABAI).

He earned his medical degree at Wayne State University in Detroit. Postgraduate education included residency in Internal Medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, research fellowship in the Laboratory of Virology and Rickettsiology at the National Institutes of Health and a fellowship in allergy and clinical immunology at the National Jewish Hospital in Denver. He worked in a private practice through the California Allergy and Asthma Medical Group, Inc. while also serving as a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine.

He has held numerous leadership positions including Allergy and Immunology Program Director at the National Jewish Hospital, Past-President of the Los Angeles Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the California Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to AAAAI and Kehillat Ma'arav. A full obituary can be found here.

Spector was also a major donor to the AAAAI Foundation and his generous support has helped fund the future of the specialty.