Diane M. Becker
Born
Diane M. Demarest

(1943-03-27)March 27, 1943
Warwick, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 17, 2021(2021-02-17) (aged 77)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Alma materJohns Hopkins University
Spouse
Lewis C. Becker
​
(m. 1964)​
Children1
Scientific career
FieldsPublic health, cardiovascular disease prevention
InstitutionsJohns Hopkins University
Doctoral advisorDavid M. Levine

Diane M. Becker (née Demarest; March 27, 1943 - November 17, 2021) was an American nurse and public health scientist who researched cardiovascular disease prevention. She was a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Career and education

Becker graduated from Monroe-Woodbury High School in 1961.[1] Becker graduated from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in 1964 with a R.N. Diploma in Nursing.[1][2]

For 17 years, Becker worked as a nursing director in intensive care units in London, Boston, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.[1] She earned a B.S. (1978), M.P.H. (1979), and Sc.D. (1984) in health policy and management from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.[3] Her doctoral advisor was David M. Levine. Becker's dissertation was titled Risk Behaviors and Risk Factors in Siblings of People with Early Coronary Heart Disease.[2]

Levine recruited Becker in 1984, Becker to join the faculty of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.[3][4] She researched cardiovascular disease prevention and specialized in coronary disease risk factors.[3][4] In 1987, Becker became the first nurse to receive an academic appointment in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.[4] She worked in the department of medicine division of general internal medicine and held a joint appointment in the Bloomberg School department of health policy and management.[4]

Becker partnered with pastors from 250 churches in East Baltimore to create the nonprofit Heart, Body, and Soul, Inc. aimed at improving health outcomes among urban African American populations.[3] In 1995, Becker became a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow.[3] Becker retired in 2018 and was named a professor emerita of medicine.[1]

Personal life

Becker was born March 27, 1943, in Warwick, New York, to Lucile Swartwout, a nurse, and John Smith Demarest a bar and inn manager in Greenwood Lake, New York.[1][3] She met Lewis C. Becker, her future husband, while she was a nursing student and he was studying medicine.[1] They married on November 7, 1964.[2] They had a daughter.[1] Becker and her husband were seasonal residents of Martha's Vineyard, having bought a home in Lambert's Cove in 1990.[3]

Becker died November 17, 2021, of metastatic breast cancer in North Roland Park, Baltimore.[1][3] An Anglican funeral mass was held at St. Thomas the Apostle Hollywood.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kelly, Jacques (November 21, 2021). "Dr. Diane M. Becker, a public health scientist who championed healthy community medicine in underserved areas, dies". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
  2. 1 2 3 Becker, Diane M. (1984). Risk Behaviors and Risk Factors in Siblings of People with Early Coronary Heart Disease (Sc.D. thesis). Johns Hopkins University. OCLC 10845656.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Dr. Diane Becker, 78". The Vineyard Gazette. December 1, 2021. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Bennett, Kelsey (2021-11-18). "In Memoriam: Diane M. Becker". Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
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