The continuing medical education (CME) Community lost one of its pillars on January 19, 2009. David Lichtenauer passed away on Monday at age 70 at his home in Indianapolis. "Dave" was known by fellow executives in the pharmaceutical industry and by most CME providers as an unselfish mentor to anyone in medical education needing assistance.
Among countless achievements of distinction, Dave was a charter member of the National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration, a Fellow and past Member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for CME, a Member Emeritus of the Society of Academic CME, and a site surveyor and Member of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education’s (ACCME) first External Monitoring Committee, to name just a few.
He was also our historian. It was Dave who provided us with many of the older documents that showed how we are basically fighting the same battles that existed 20 years ago and, believe it or not, our critics are pretty much the same people.
For the past twenty years, Dave was one of the more popular planning committee and faculty members at the larger meetings and conferences of CME professionals.
Previously, Dave was employed by the Upjohn Pharmaceutical Company (Upjohn) for 30 years, where he created the Medical Science Liaison model that, remains to this day, the key functional contact between opinion leaders in medicine and research-based pharmaceutical companies.
After retiring in 1994, Dave served as a consultant on CME issues to both industry and CME providers nationwide. His professional knowledge and network of colleagues throughout the CME enterprise were unparalleled.
Before coming to Upjohn, Dave received his Bachelor’s Degree from Butler University, and a Master's Degree from Indiana University. Dave is survived by his wife Carole, daughter Lora, and grandchildren, Sarah and Garrett.
Even with his illness, he served as an encouragement in the continued fight for the ideas that collaboration with industry would provide quality CME was good for both physicians and patients.
He will be sorely missed. (Help for this article was provided by recently retired Fred Wilson, also a pillar of our community.)