Muriel Lezak, z”l, passed away on Oct. 6 in Portland at age 94. She was a pioneer the field of neuropsychology. She is survived by daughters, Anne and Miriam, and nine grandchildren. Her son, David, died in 2014. Her husband, Sid, died in 2006.

Muriel Elaine Deutsch was born on Aug. 26, 1927, in Chicago to Sylvia (Friedman) and Lester Deutsch. Her husband, Sidney Lezak, who was Oregon’s U.S. attorney for 20 years, died in 2006.

She graduated from the University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in general studies in 1947 and a master’s in human development in 1949. That same year, she married Sidney Lezak, a lawyer. They soon moved to Portland, where he would serve as the United States attorney in Oregon from 1961 to 1982.

She received a doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Portland in 1960. Dr. Lezak worked at clinics and taught psychology at Portland State College (now University) and the University of Portland from 1949 until she began her 19-year tenure at the V.A. hospital in 1966. In 1985, she left to teach at the Oregon Health & Science University, where she was a professor of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry until 2005. She long had a private practice, and she continued to see patients until a few years ago.

She helped pioneer the field of neuropsychology, becoming an expert in evaluating and rehabilitating brain injury. In 1976, she published Neuropsychological Assessment, which quickly became – and remains – the field’s standard text. The next edition, to be published in 2023, will be titled Lezak’s Neuropsychological Assessment.

Read about her pioneering work in brain injuries in the Nov. 1 New York Times article nytimes.com/2021/11/01/science/muriel-lezak-dead.html