Richard N. Dexter M.D.

Rick Dexter MD of Indianapolis, Indiana, died April 23, 2022 of metastatic melanoma in home hospice with family.  Rick was born September 2, 1933, in Port Huron, Michigan, the only child of Alice and Roy Dexter.  In 1951 he graduated from Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and subsequently earned a BA from Harvard University and an MD from Cornell Medical School in New York City.  He then completed the first two years of a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Minnesota, where he met nursing student and future wife Phyllis Jordahl.  They were married in Minneapolis in 1961.

Interrupting his medical residency, Dr. Dexter spent two years as a research associate in the Laboratory of Metabolism, National Heart Institute, at the National Institutes of Health and as a Senior Assistant Surgeon in the U.S. Public Health Service.  He then completed his residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston.  Following a two-year fellowship in Endocrinology at Vanderbilt School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, Rick joined the faculty of the Indiana University School of Medicine in 1967, where he remained for 48 years until his retirement in 2015.  For almost 30 years of that time he was head of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Wishard (now Eskenazi Health) Hospital.  He became an active professor emeritus in 1998, and from 1996 until 2015 he was an attending physician based at IU Health Methodist Hospital.  In 2017 he received the J.O. Ritchey Emeriti Faculty Service Award.

Rick’s primary interest was education, and in 2006 he and his wife endowed the Richard N. Dexter Faculty Fellowship fund to support an annual fellowship for a junior faculty member interested in research to enhance medical training.  Multiple high-quality pilot studies have been conducted through this fellowship, serving as the basis for subsequent external research grants.

Dr. Dexter held various positions and received a number of awards related to education.  He was active in the American College of Physicians, serving as Governor of the Indiana Chapter of the ACP from 1988 to 1992, receiving the Laureate award in 2004, and becoming a Master in 2009.  He received the Department of Medicine’s Distinguished Teaching Award twice, the all-university President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1992, and the Distinguished Teacher Award from IU/Methodist Hospital in 2010.  Rick was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the honor society for medicine.  He was chair of the Education Committee of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism for five years, chair of the Dept. of Medicine Education Committee for 13 years, and, for the School of Medicine, chair of the Academic Standards Committee for five years and chair of the Education and Curriculum Committee for five years.  Additionally, Rick was chief proctor for the American Board of Internal Medicine examination in Indiana from 1982 to 1999.

Rick carried over his love of teaching to his children.  He was facile in any form of homework problem, fixing leaky faucets or similar household tasks, digging up and seeding lawns (with mixed results), and cooking both burgers and crepes.  His daily return from work was a highlight of each day for his children, as they played games with him and enjoyed his readings of Treasure Island and Sherlock Holmes.

Dr. Dexter was preceded in death by his wife Phyllis.  Survivors include children Susan Quasney and Paul (Diana) Dexter, grandchildren Ryan and Eric Quasney and Julia and Gregory Dexter, sister-in-law Ruth Ann Anderson (Maurice), sister-in-law Leone Larson (Tom Moen), and four nieces and nephews.  He will be greatly missed.

After a private funeral service for family at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, interment will be in the St. Paul’s columbarium.

Online condolences may be shared by visiting flannerbuchanan.com.  Arrangements were entrusted to Flanner Buchanan – Carmel.