Obituaries

Avery K. Ellis, senior associate dean for medical curriculum in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, died Nov. 7 after becoming ill in Chicago, where he was attending a medical conference. He was 64.

As senior associate dean for medical curriculum, Ellis was responsible for coordinating and implementing all activities related to the medical school’s curriculum, including development, educational research, outcome evaluation and the enhancement of teaching effectiveness.

Prior to assuming this role in 2008, Ellis was chief of staff at the Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System and director of UB’s Cardiology Fellowship Program.

He also held an appointment as an associate professor of medicine and physiology, and was considered a gifted and popular teacher, known to be approachable, informal and humorous with his students.

A native of Kenmore, Ellis earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in 1972, an MD from UB in 1977 and a doctorate in physiology from UB in 1979. He completed his medical residency and cardiology fellowship at Stanford University Hospital and received an MBA from Duke University in 1999.

Ellis was a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association, and a member of the American Society of Echocardiography and the New York State Cardiology Society.