UHS Official Pollack Dies at 51

Marc N. Pollack, chief financial officer of University Health Services (UHS) and a teacher at Harvard’s Extension School, died unexpectedly on Feb. 19 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He was 51.

A funeral service for Pollock was held Wednesday at Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead, Mass. He was buried at the temple’s cemetery in Danvers.

The cause of Pollack’s death is still unknown, said longtime colleague David S. Rosenthal ’59, director of UHS.

“You have to suspect that it was a heart attack,” Rosenthal said.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Pollack received his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1972. He then earned his master’s in history from Brandeis in 1974 and in business administration from Boston University in 1977.

Pollack remained in the Boston area and eventually established residency in Marblehead.

Rosenthal said UHS hired Pollack 10 years ago to serve as assistant director of finance.

He was later promoted to CFO, where he was responsible for establishing fees for a variety of UHS services and coordinating them with University officials.

“It took a mastermind,” Rosenthal said. “He corresponded with a lot of colleagues regularly from both UHS and the University.”

For the past few years, Pollock had also taught a course at the Extension School titled “Financial Management and Health.”

Carol Shepherd, who co-taught the course with Pollack for about three years while a doctoral candidate at the School of Public Health, remembered him as “a really nice guy.”

“He cared passionately about what he did, was incredibly knowledgable, and liked teaching a lot,” Shepherd said. “He will be missed.”

At Wednesday’s funeral service, co-workers also described Pollack as a devoted family man.

Fellow UHS administrator Mary N. Hennings recounted that every Friday after work, Pollack descended from his second-floor Holyoke Center office to the Holyoke Arcade to buy flowers for his wife.

“This was told with tears,” Rosenthal said.

“Marc was a very sociable person. He always had something nice to say,” Rosenthal said. “He was very thoughtful.”

A memorial service for Pollack is being planned by UHS in conjunction with Harvard Hillel and will be held next week, Rosenthal said.

Pollack is survived by his wife Miriam, son Lee and daughter Julia, all of Marblehead.

—Staff writer Alexander J. Blenkinsopp can be reached at blenkins@fas.harvard.edu.