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MHSNJ Zoom Program—Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 7:00 pm EDT
Speaker: Michael Nevins, MD
Topic: Dr. Stewart Alexander’s “Great Secret”
Summary
Dr. Stewart Alexander, born in Park Ridge, NJ, in 1914, lived and worked there for most of his life and died in 1991 at age 77. I met him in 1968, when I began my medical career at Pascack Valley.
Stewart and I often collaborated on projects over the next two decades. He influenced several of my personal endeavors, including introducing me to the fledgling MHSNJ. Indeed, long after he passed, I came to regard Stewart Alexander as my medical mentor.
When we met, Stewart was a well-respected internist who had joined his father’s medical practice in 1940. Sometimes, when Stewart and I ran into each other on hospital rounds, we’d stop to chat. Invariably, he had a fascinating story to tell. Most of the stories were about the old-time country docs. These included Stewart’s father, who had replaced the town’s first physician, Henry Neer, who’d hung out his shingle just after the Civil War. By the time Stewart retired, that three-generation office had operated for 117 years, and it seemed to me they never threw anything out. Sometimes Stewart would invite me over to his home office, where we’d pore over old records and examine ancient equipment.
Today I’d like to describe two subjects in some detail. First, a bit of what I learned from my friend about local medical history, and then something he rarely spoke about, his experiences during World War II, which were largely kept secret until just six years ago, when historian Jennet Conant published a book titled “The Great Secret,”* in which she described Colonel Alexander’s vital role during World War II that turned a military disaster in Bari, Italy, into a war on cancer and the dawn of chemotherapy. In truth, it took me many years to appreciate that my modest mentor was a legitimate hero—not strictly in a military sense.
*Reviewed in the MHSNJ Website Book Review Section: THE GREAT SECRET: The Classified World War II Disaster that Launched the War on Cancer
About the Speaker
Dr. Michael Nevins practiced internal medicine, cardiology, and geriatrics in Bergen County from 1968 until retiring in 2012. For many years, he served as Vice President of Medical Affairs and Director of Medical Education at Bergen Regional Medical Center and was a member of New Jersey’s Bioethics Commission.
Dr. Nevins served as Governor of the American College of Physicians’ New Jersey Chapter and received its Laureate Award for career achievements in medical education, bioethics, and geriatrics. He served as MHSNJ’s President from 2012 to 2014 and, in 2010, received the David L. Cowen Award for contributions to medical history.
Dr. Nevins has published more than a dozen books on medical history. Nearly 100 of his essays and talks are available on his personal website, www.michaelnevins.com.
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