Perelman School of Medicine professor Arthur Alterman dies at 72

The Penn community was forced to say goodbye to one of its most accomplished scientists on Oct. 5.

Arthur Alterman died of cancer last Wednesday at Bryn Mawr Hospital at age 72. The funeral was held on Sunday Oct. 9 at Joseph Levine & Sons Memorial Chapel in Broomall.

Alterman was a research professor of Psychology at the Perelman School of Medicine. He had been employed by the University since 1984. He also worked at the Center for Studies of Addiction, a center within the Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Penn. He served as the center’s scientific director from 1992-2000.

Alterman focused his career on substance-abuse treatment. He received funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veteran Affairs.

John Cacciola, a colleague of Alterman’s at the Medical School’s Psychology in Psychiatry department, described Alterman in a statement as someone who “dedicated his career to examining substance abuse treatment to make it better, to developing measures to better assess the issues of the patients served, and to understanding who will do well in treatment and who needs more or different care to do better. This work yielded new insights into substance abuse treatments and patients, and resulted in changes in assessing patients and the care they were provided.”

Alterman worked at many institutions over his long extensive career including the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh, Thomas Jefferson University and VA Medical Centers. “The last more than 25 years at Penn’s Center for the Studies of Addiction were his most productive, and most meaningful to him,” Cacciola said.

Alterman was a Philadelphia native. He graduated from South Philadelphia High School in 1956 and went on to Temple University where he received a degree in psychology. He recieved a masters in psychology from Brown University and a Ph.D. from George Washington University.

“As his work continues to have an impact, greater will be the impact of those he touched who will follow,” Cacciola commented. “To all that knew him, he was unique in so many ways which made him such a refreshing character, but above all, he demonstrated great character. His legacy and our memories will persist, still our loss is profound.”

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