William Anthony Pulsinelli

Loving husband, father, grandfather (Pop Pop), son, and brother William A. Pulsinelli, PhD, MD, died on the February 15, 2026. Dr. Pulsinelli was born on October 14, 1942, in Easton, Pennsylvania, to Gilda and Anthony Pulsinelli. He is survived by his wife, Barbara, of 60 years, daughter, Christine, son, Michael, and his wife, Molly, granddaughters, Alice and Evelyn, and his sister, Deborah Vitalie, and her husband, Steve Vitalie.

He graduated from Washington High School in Washington, New Jersey, in 1960. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Villanova University in 1965 and married his high school sweetheart, Barbara E. Snyder, the same year. Bill continued his education, earning a PhD in Biochemistry in 1970 and a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1973 from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. He trained as a medical intern and resident neurologist from 1973 through 1977 at the New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center in Manhattan, N.Y. He remained at the New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center, where he held an appointment in the Department of Neurology as Assistant Professor and Assistant Attending Neurologist. Dr. Pulsinelli was promoted up through the ranks to full Professor and Attending Neurologist in 1988 and remained at the New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center, until 1992 when he accepted the position of the Semmes Murphey Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN.

During his graduate training at the University of Utah, he learned to ski and kayak the mountains and rivers of Utah. He taught both his children to ski at a young age, and many of his brightest memories were of skiing with his family in the mountains of Colorado. These family trips carried over to a myriad of special visits to Disney World with his children and granddaughters, Alice and Evie.

Dr. Pulsinelli recognized the unity between nature and God early in life, and thus most of these outdoor activities also served as religious experiences for him. He voiced his belief that his views on the relationship between God and nature were remarkably similar to those of the indigenous peoples of the Americas towards the natural and spiritual world. As a result, Dr. Pulsinelli had profound respect for the indigenous culture and practices of the Native North Americans and was especially fond of the Plains Tribes of the Dakotas and Montana.

Dr. Pulsinelli would prefer that, instead of sending memorial flowers, a donation be made in his name to either St. Labre Indian School, Ashland, Montana 59004 (https://www.stlabre.org) or the St. Joseph Indian School, 1301 North Main Street, Chamberlain, SD 57325 ([email protected]). A funeral Mass for Dr. Pulsinelli is scheduled for [date/time] at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 401 Alderman Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903.