Daniel Tosteson, former Harvard Medical dean, dies at 84

Dr. Daniel C. Tosteson (left, in 1985 photo), who helped reshape medical education in his two decades as dean of Harvard Medical School, died yesterday after a long illness, the school said today. He was 84.

A professor of cell biology who headed the medical school from 1977 through 1997, Dr. Tosteson restructured the way medical students are taught by organizing their learning around cases in a program called the New Pathway.

"Dan’s clear objective was to prepare students to be lifelong learners as our knowledge of biomedical science expanded,” S. James Adelstein, who was executive dean for academic programs while Tosteson was dean, said in a statement. "He felt it was important to work not only on the knowledge base, but also on the attitudinal base, establishing attitudes toward learning and toward patients."

Dr. Tosteson also created one of the country's first departments of genetics as well as separate departments for cell biology, biological chemistry, and molecular pharmacology as the field of molecular biology exploded in the 1980s. He established the Department of Health Care Policy and the Department of Social Medicine, now known as Global Health and Social Medicine.

A native of Milwaukee, Dr. Tosteson attended both Harvard College and Harvard Medical School. He taught for 14 years at Duke University Medical School, and then spent two years as dean of the division of biological science and vice president of University of Chicago Medical Center before returning to Harvard.

He is survived by his wife, Magdalena, a lecturer on biophysics in the Harvard Medical's Department of Cell Biology, of Chestnut Hill; sons Joshua of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Tor of Lyme, N.H.; and daughters Heather of Chattanooga, Tenn.; Ingrid of Chestnut Hill; and Zoe Tosteson Losada of Caracas, Venezuela.