Dr. Roger Bulger (1933-2025)
The AIHA family is saddened by the passing of Dr. Roger Bulger, a founding member of our Board of Directors. Dr. Bulger passed away at his home in Tacoma, Washington, on June 13, 2025, surrounded by his immediate family.
“Roger had a storied career as a physician, educator, author, and public health leader,” said David Greeley, AIHA’s President and CEO. “He served on the AIHA Board for more than two decades, several times as Board Chair, and was such a wonderful Board member and boss. He was also a tremendous advisor to me when I took the helm at AIHA nearly 11 years ago.”
As head of the Association of Academic Health Centers from 1988 to 2006, Dr. Bulger was instrumental in AIHA’s launch in 1992 and our efforts to harness the U.S. health sector’s expertise to build capacity in countries spanning Central and Eastern Europe following the collapse of the former Soviet Union through a unique institutional partnership model.
Charles R. Evans, current Chair of AIHA’s Board of Directors, expressed condolences stating, “Dr. Bulger was a true champion of AIHA and its programs, which represented not only highly effective sharing of clinical knowledge and technologies, but also the citizen diplomacy that helped break down many of the walls built throughout the Cold War era. He recognized the value of peer-to-peer technical assistance went beyond training and yielded lasting personal and institutional relationships.”
A memorial service for Dr. Bulger will be livestreamed at 2:00 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, July 29, 2025.