Richard Redinger, former chairman of the UofL Department of Medicine, passes away

Accomplished gastroenterologist served 20 years as leader of internal medicine department
Richard Redinger, former chairman of the UofL Department of Medicine, passes away

Richard N. Redinger, M.D.

Richard N. Redinger, M.D., former Chair of the University of Louisville Department of Medicine, passed away on October 19, 2021.

Dr. Redinger served as Chief of Gastroenterology from 1981 until he was appointed as Chair from 1989-2009. He was a very dedicated faculty member serving as a teacher, researcher and clinician during his tenure at UofL.

Earning his MD from the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Redinger served medical residencies at Canada's old Victoria Hospital in London, the University of Michigan and Tufts University.

While in Boston, he secured an Ontario Department of Health Traveling Scholarship for three additional years as a research fellow at Boston University which produced seminal papers defining the physiology of biliary lipids in primates.

He continued research on the pathophysiology of gallstone disease upon his return to the University of Western Ontario for seven years and developed the only Biliary Research Laboratory in Canada at that time.

After returning to Boston University as Associate Professor of Medicine at the Evans Memorial and Chief of Gastrointestinal Research, he came to the University of Louisville in 1981 as Professor of Medicine and the first academic chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

He became the Executive Vice Chair in the Department of Medicine and was asked to continue his chiefship while serving as acting chairman and Training Program Director for the department for three years. He was named permanent Chairman of the department in 1992.

Under his leadership the department grew from 43 to 146 faculty members.

He served as service chief of medicine at University of Louisville Hospital, an officer and founding member of multiple School of Medicine Boards including University Physicians Associates, University Health Care and was President of the Medical School Fund.

Dr. Redinger lived in Shelbyville, Kentucky and faithfully cared for over 250 acres of farmland.

He leaves behind his lovely wife, Arlene, three sons, Matthew, Mark and David along with a daughter, Heather.

A private funeral and memorial service is being planned.