In Memoriam: Elizabeth Tam

Elizabeth Tam, who recently retired from her position as chair of the department of medicine at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawai’i, died on October 8.

Dr. Tam was born and raised on the island of Oahu. She attended medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, and completed her internship and residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School. She joined the faculty at the University of Hawai’i in 1992.

Professor Tam was the department of medicine’s second Native Hawaiian chair and served in that position for 15 years. She also held the American Lung Association of Hawaii and Leahi Fund Endowed Chair in Respiratory Health at the university. She was a pulmonologist who championed the causes of the American Lung Association in Hawaiʻi and was a strong proponent of tobacco control and conducted research on vog, hazy air pollution caused by volcanic emissions.