Dr. Grayson, held Florida, national AAP roles

• Copyright © 2013 by the American Academy of Pediatrics

Robert Grayson, M.D., FAAP, of Surfside, Fla., died Aug. 4 at age 94.

Dr. Grayson

Recipient of the 1991 AAP Clifford Grulee Award for outstanding service to the Academy, he was honored for a lifetime of state and national achievements.

Dr. Grayson was chair of District IV and AAP Board of Directors member from 1983-’89 and alternate district chair from 1978-1983. He helped establish the AAP Section on Senior Members and was a member of the AAP Committee on Practice Management.

He served as Florida Pediatric Society president (1964-’65) and AAP Florida Chapter president (1970-’75). In 1967, he drafted a constitution and bylaws to amalgamate both organizations. During his presidency, the Florida Chapter was honored with the Large Chapter Award (1975).

Dr. Grayson and chapter poison committee members pushed to form 15 poison control centers in Florida in the 1950s, and he served as the first president of the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

After practicing in Miami Beach for 37 years, Dr. Grayson retired in 1986. He was a prolific writer, serving as an editor for the AAP Section on Senior Members’ newsletter. In 2009, he drafted his life reflections, published for his 90th birthday (http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/Committees-Councils-Sections/Section-on-Senior-Members/Documents/SrBullFall_2009.pdf, pages 28-32). He also interviewed pediatric luminaries for the AAP Pediatric History Center’s oral history project.

He earned his M.D. in 1943 from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York. After serving in the Army stateside in World War II, he completed pediatric residency training at the Willard Parker Hospital, New York, and Duke Hospital in Durham, N.C.

Dr. Grayson is predeceased by his wife of 61 years, Shirley. He is survived by his daughter, Jane Grayson, M.D., FAAP, son, Bill, and two grandchildren.