Article begins
(1950–2025)
We honor the memory of Dr. Merrill Charles Singer, who died May 3, 2025, in Portland, Oregon. Born on October 6, 1950, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, Dr. Singer grew up in a working-class Jewish home where social justice traditions informed his commitment to organizing. Though Merrill’s parents, Hannah Acker and Herman Singer, at times struggled to provide for their children, he spoke often of the political ideals they imparted.
Dr. Singer studied anthropology at California State University, Northridge, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Cal State-Northridge is where he became involved in farmworker union organizing and met close friend Jim Garcia, who preceded him in death. Dr. Singer earned a PhD in anthropology at the University of Utah, meeting lifelong friend and coauthor Hans Baer. Drs. Singer and Baer co-developed the enduring concept of critical medical anthropology. Dr. Singer’s work on the political economy of health, and the imperative to unmask power relationships within healthcare systems, inspired generations of scholars. In addition to co-foundingcritical medical anthropology and advocating for the application of critical praxis outside of academia, Dr. Singer originated other foundational concepts in medical anthropology, including syndemics.
Dr. Singer was a truly applied medical anthropologist, working for decades as a community-based researcher with the Hispanic Health Council in Hartford, CT, while also serving as an advisor on HIV/AIDS and substance-use research and policy to various US presidential administrations, the National Institutes of Health/NIDA, the Centers for Disease Control, and advising an early Sandinista government on health policy in mid-1980s Nicaragua. Dr. Singer was affiliated with the University of Connecticut Center for Health Intervention and Prevention (CHIP) and the Anthropology Department for many years. He began advising medical anthropology doctoral students in 2009, serving as full faculty for nearly a decade before compounding health complications compelled him to retire. Dr. Singer authored 150-plus peer-reviewed articles and approximately 30 books, the last two released just months before he died.
Merrill is survived by son Jacob Singer (Susan Blasi), daughter Elyse Singer, granddaughter Zoey Singer, nephews Matthew Singer and Kevin Singer and their children, and many colleagues, friends, and protégés. He is also survived by former partners Lani Davison and Pamela Erickson. His parents and brother, Alan Singer, preceded him in death. A memorial service was held in Portland on May 18th, 2025.
Reflecting on his influence, one of Dr. Singer’s doctoral advisees shared: “How lucky I was to have an advisor willing to spend one-on-one time teaching about his theoretical frameworks, and to develop manuscripts together he insisted I be first author on, no less. Merrill’s model of consistently inviting current and former students to co-author is one I feel incredibly fortunate to have been included in, and that I’ve tried to follow. Since he passed, I’ve heard from former students how much Merrill’s work informed theirs.” We know Merrill’s contributions—both scholarly and in such generosity—will continue to shape our field, and us.
(Bayla Ostrach and Shir Lerman Ginzburg)
