Dr. Doris M. Merritt

Doris Honig Merritt, M.D., ScD, Daughter of Lillian (Kunstilch) and Aaron Honig Esq. of New York City, whose husband A. Donald Merritt, M.D. predeceased her in death on November 28, 1986, departed this life peacefully at her home on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. Doris was born July 16, 1923 in Manhattan, NY. She was 98 at the time of her passing. As World War II was coming to a close in the mid 1940’s, so was young Doris Merritt's two-year stint in the Navy Officer Corps. As she looked for a job alternative, an interesting and useful profession that would give her some measure of financial independence, she decided on medicine. She had graduated cum laude with a Phi Beta Kappa in English literature from Hunter College University of New York City in 1944. With the change in major, she had to take pre-medical courses from 1946 to 1948 before she was accepted into medical school at George Washington University School of Medicine where she met her future husband, A. Donald Merritt. After earning her medical degree in 1952, she and her now physician husband Donald Merritt, went to Duke University for their residencies—she in pediatrics, he in internal medicine. She was an assistant resident in pediatrics at Duke University from 1954 to 1955, and a fellow in pediatrics from 1955 to 1956. The couple returned to Bethesda, Maryland in 1957 when Donald took a position at the National Institutes of Health. This was the beginning of a long and substantial career and motherhood with the birth of her first son, Kenneth the same year. Almost by accident, she became a high-powered fundraiser for academic medicine. "I was introduced to administration simply by following my husband, which women were expected to do then." When her husband took a position at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland in 1957, she did not find work in pediatrics, her medical specialty. Instead, she found a new career. Dr. Merritt took a position as an executive secretary for the Division of Research Grants at the National Institutes of Health. Through this introduction to grants work she realized she could serve as an effective facilitator, and that she loved to watch the progress of different projects. She devoted the next forty years to "grantsmanship"—a term she coined in the 1960s to describe successful approaches to fundraising for research. In 1961 Dr. Merritt accompanied her husband to the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, where he established what later became the Department of Medical Genetics. With two young boys in tow, she was named director of medical research grants and contracts. Instead of reviewing various grant applications as she had at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Merritt directed and guided the development of applications. She was very successful: two of the project grants received by Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) that she secured in her first year as director were still ongoing more than thirty-five years later. The following year, when Dr. Merritt became assistant dean for medical research at Indiana University School of Medicine, she was one of the first women in the United States to be assistant dean of a coeducational medical school. Between 1961 and 1978 she was instrumental in bringing $55 million in new construction grants to the Indianapolis campus. From 1961 to 1997, under her guidance, IUSM research dollars grew from $1.8 million to nearly $105 million. In 1978, Dr. Merritt returned to Bethesda and was appointed, by current President Carter, special assistant to the director of the National Institutes of Health for research training and research resources. That same year she was the first woman to chair the National Library of Medicine Board of Regents and helped create the library's electronic information system. In 1986 she was named the first acting director of the National Center for Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health. Two years after her husband’s death, Dr. Merritt returned home to Indiana and became dean of the Indiana University School of Medicine in 1988. She later went on to hold positions as interim dean of the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology (received her Doctorate of Science), and vice chancellor for research and graduate education at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. Officially retiring in 1998, Dr. Merritt had served on the Indiana University School of Medicine's National Center for Women's Health and the Women's Fund of Central Indiana. She also designed and created databases for student research in drama, short stories, and biography as a volunteer for the North Central High School. Since 1994, three schools of the Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis have designated annual honors, awards, and lectureships in Dr. Merritt's name. She received the National Institutes of Health Director's Award and the Governor of Indiana's "Sagamore of the Wabash" citation. She was also very proud of the Certificate of Recognition awarded by the Washington Township School Board for her volunteer work. Doris is survived by her loving sons, Christopher (Kaki) Merritt and Kenneth (Dinah) Merritt; beloved grandchildren, Benjamin, Zachary, Casey and Aaron as well as a host of grateful students, colleagues and other trailblazing women. Celebration of her life will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested in her name to: AMPATH (Kenya Project) IU Center for Global Health, 702 Rotary Circle, Suite RO 101, Indianapolis, IN 46202. Or, the IUPUI School of Engineering & Technology or the Salvation Army. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared here at www.leppertmortuary.com for the Merritt family.