Beaufort Longest Jr. was to health policy and management what Albert Einstein was to the theory of relativity.

That is to say he fathered and helped to craft advances in health policy while setting off major impacts in the field as a professor, a prolific author and as a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh.

“Beaufort was a very distinguished academic who held an endowed chair at Pitt,” said Mark Nordenberg, Pitt chancellor emeritus and chair of its Institute of Politics. “One very important part of his legacy was his role as founding director of Pitt’s Health Policy Institute, which continues to make very important contributions by applying scientific methods to key challenges facing our health system.”

The M. Allen Pond Professor and founding director of the institute and professor emeritus of health policy management, Mr. Longest, of Oakland, died Jan. 17 of esophageal cancer. He was 82.

He grew up in the small town of Rose Hill, N.C., and attended Davidson College before earning a master's degree in health administration in 1969, followed three years later by a doctorate degree in business administration, both from Georgia State University.

He met Carolyn Hetler as a teenager.

“We met on the first day of high school,” recalled Mrs. Longest, who hasn’t lost her soft Southern drawl. “Our town had consolidated three schools into one, so we met all of the other people from the other schools on the first day. We didn’t date until our senior year and we went together for four years before getting married.”

The couple would have celebrated their 60th anniversary this year.

Just seven years later, the two faced the kind of tragedy that makes or breaks most marriages when their 7-year-old daughter, Carolyn “Lyn,” died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

“It revealed our strength of character,” Mrs. Longest said. “This was a bedrock for our marriage going forward. He was so strong and so good and we worked together and relied on each other. We knew we could deal with anything from that point forward.”

Mrs. Longest -- already auspicious as the first woman to graduate with a master’s degree in medical ethics from the Pitt Department of History and Philosophy of Science -- went on to help others by becoming a volunteer grief counselor.

In late 1979, Mr. Longest was working at Northwestern University when he was recruited by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and the Pennsylvania Economy League, his wife said.

“They did a study and decided Pittsburgh needed an entity to bring cohesion to the public health policies that were being implemented in the area,” she said. “They raised money for the Health Policy Institute at Pitt, did a nationwide search and hired Beaufort away.”

Their first impression of Pittsburgh didn’t disappoint.

“I thought Pittsburgh was gorgeous. It’s a beautiful city,” Mrs. Longest said. “We have been very happy here.”

According to a review of his work by the university, Mr. Longest’s research on health policy and management has generated “substantial grant support and has led to the publication of numerous peer-reviewed articles.”

Mr. Longest, who retired in 2016, authored or co-authored 10 books, 28 chapters in other books and two textbooks that are widely used in graduate health policy and management programs.

He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a member of many industry organizations and has served on a number of corporate and advisory boards.

Mr. Nordenberg remembered Mr. Longest as more than just a colleague.

“I also knew Beaufort from very early days as a father and a friend,” he said. “He had a curious mind and a big heart and seemed to naturally spread good cheer in virtually every kind of setting. I considered it a treat, for example, when we had passing conversations while he and his wife were walking their dog.”

Her husband should be remembered for his many contributions to science and health policy and for his kind, sweet nature, his wife said.

“He was a stellar man -- he just was a remarkable man.”

Along with his wife, Mr. Longest is survived by sons Beaufort Longest III, of San Jose, Calif., and Courtland Longest, of Richland.

His funeral was private.

Janice Crompton: jcrompton@post-gazette.com.

First Published: February 2, 2025, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: February 3, 2025, 7:42 p.m.