DR. NEIL RICHARD (RICK) BOYD JR. Dr. Boyd was born in Rogersville, Tennessee on February 13, 1949, the son of Neil and Mary Emily Boyd.
He died March 23, 2019 in Metuchen, New Jersey. He was a graduate of Rogersville High School, Rogersville, Tennessee in 1967. He continued his higher education at Carson Newman College with a Bachelor’s Degree in 1971:then received his Masters and Doctoral Degrees at the University of Tennessee in 1981 in Behavioral Science, Psychology, and Statistics.
He did additional graduate work in his field of study at the University of Alabama and received a MS Degree in Public Health in the Science of Public Health with emphasis on Cancer Prevention and control at the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. He served his country in the U.S. Army with the rank of Captain. He then pursued his true interest at the college level as a research assistant at the University of Medicine in Hattiesburg, Minnesota; then as a professor at George Washington Medical University in Washington D.C. and at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
He served in many capacities as both an educator as well as continuing research in the psychological effects of cancer and other related fields such as the effects of the use of tobacco products. He authored many treatises in the many fields of his studies and was published many times during his teaching career. He wrote for both in his professional field such as Evaluation of Health Promotion, Health Education and disease prevention, with publications in 2004, 2011 and 2015.
He had a special interest in the effects of drinking and driving, tort liability in Tennessee, Playground Safety and effects of alcohol on emotional maturity. He became Associate Dean of the School of Public Health in Newark, NJ, which was merged with Rutgers University where he served for six years because of his administrative abilities in overseeing and directing academic programs. More recently his health began to fail and the position of Dean was relinquished.
He then followed his real love by returning to teaching at Rutgers University in a professional capacity until his death. He has been a faculty member in this college since 2005 and received five consecutive excellence in teaching awards which culminated in Dr. Boyd being selected for the Master Education Guild. He was preceded in death by his parents, Neil and Mary Emily Boyd and his brother, Charles Boyd.
He is survived by his wife, Sophia, and cousins George Poe, Church Hill, TN, James (Jerry) Boyd of Knoxville, TN, John Stapleton of Rogersville, TN and Larry Boyd of Rogersville, TN. Visitation will occur at Broome Funeral Home on Friday, March 29, 2019,from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. with funeral service to follow with Reverend Rodney Norris officiating.
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