Douglass F. Adams MD

Doug Adams was born in Maine in 1935 and moved to Florida with his family in 1945. He was married in 1954 to his wife Eleanor and celebrated 71 anniversaries together. He was primarily a devoted husband, father and grandfather, and will be greatly missed by all those who knew and loved him. In addition he was a physician, educator, scientist, ethicist and eternal optimist! His undergraduate studies were completed at Stetson University and Wake Forest College. He received his medical degree at Wake Forest School of Medicine, then known as Bowman Gray. He interned at Philadelphia General Hospital. After serving in the Air Force for two years, he did a radiology residency and fellowship at Stanford Medical School, and an additional year as a faculty member. He then became a faculty member at Harvard Medical School in Boston. During a sabbatical year, 1973-74, he became a Sloan Fellow at the Sloan Business School at MIT, where he obtained a Master’s degree in business. From 1979 to 81 he was Professor and Chairman of Radiology at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. He then returned to teaching and research at Harvard Medical School, primarily at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His career spanned many specialties. He worked in the early days of Vascular and Cardiac Angiography, Computer Tomography, Interventional Radiology and MRI. Following another sabbatical working on ethics at the Kennedy School, he began teaching Medical Ethics, also at Harvard. He retired in 2001, Professor Emeritus from Harvard, and enjoyed many lovely winters in St. Augustine at what was the home of his parents since the early 1960s. This became his permanent home in 2012. He is survived by his wife Eleanor, children Stanford, Jennifer Blythe and Jason, and grandchildren Sydney and Zoe. He will be remembered as a truly good man, mentor to many, and dedicated to his family and the work he also loved. A Celebration of Doug’s life will be on March 29 at 12 noon, the same day as the Blessing of the Fleet, an event he celebrated with a party in his home for many years. Donation to your favorite charity in lieu of flowers if you so wish. St. Johns Family Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Douglass F. Adams MD

August 5, 1935 - March 13, 2026