R.I.P. Ronald Linder

Dr. Ronald L. Linder

Born Ronald Leonard Linder on February 26, 1940, in Tacoma, Washington. Deceased on June 19, 2017, in Los Angeles, California of natural causes. Kate Linder, his wife of 41 years, has starred on "The Young and the Restless" for over 35 years, sadly announces his passing on June 19, 2017. He was 77 years old and died peacefully.

Linder was raised by his father George Linder, a home builder and cabinet maker, and his mother Dorothy. Linder was teaching at San Francisco State University, when he met Kate just after she graduated from the university with a Theatre Arts degree. Between stage productions, his future wife was working at the University’s activities office where they met, fell in love and the two were married on Valentine's Day in 1976. Linder was a proud husband who cheered on his wife when she received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and remained supportive of her career and her biggest champion during their long marriage. Many who knew the couple were unaware of his impressive background and history as an educator, author, innovator and expert on many matters of public health and drug abuse treatment and training techniques.

As an honors student, Ronald L. Linder graduated with a BA and MS degrees in health education from the University of Washington, an EdD in health education from the University of Oregon, and a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship in research at Stanford University. He started his teaching career at Alaska Methodist University at 23.

He was a fellow of the American School Health Association at 26. After chairing the Teaching Credential and Graduate Programs in health education at San Francisco State University for four years, he joined Dr. Joy Cauffman on the SEARCH: A Link to Services project at USC School of Medicine in 1974. He later coordinated the National Science Foundation's Biomedical Interdisciplinary Curriculum Project for four years, prior to his administrative and faculty positions in public health, medicine, and education at UCLA in 1978. His background in psychoactive drug abuse research led to coauthoring the first book on PCP abuse: PCP: The Devil's Dust -- Recognition, Management, and Prevention of the Phencyclidine Abuse, which was published in 1981. He has written articles in professional journals, monographs, and was awarded a million-dollar grant to train twelve thousand human service providers on PCP abuse throughout the State of California. He served as expert witness on many homicide and DUI cases related to PCP abuse during the past several decades.
After several years teaching administrative postgraduate medical education, consulting, and acting as the principal investigator on several UCLA training grants, he became director of education at the Hospital Satellite Network and subsequently was president of American Medical Productions, winner of several Telly Awards for medical television. Dr. Linder became the Regional Liaison Officer, Veterans Health Administrator Western Region for the Ambulatory Care and Education Initiative for five years. He created the Ambulatory Care Consultation and Education Support Services (ACCESS) program used to evaluate and transition selected inpatient to outpatient care.

In 1999, he coauthored Home Health Telecommunications. A few years later, he established two substance abuse treatment programs for the underserved in Los Angeles. In 2013, Linder and his former SEARCH partner Cauffman coauthored another book, A Forty-Year Retrospective of President Nixon's Committee on Health Education A Whistleblower's Diary. Dr. Linder received numerous awards and recognition for this work, including a "Medical Aspects of Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Ware" symposium in 1981, which contributed to the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1985.

Linder is survived his wife Kate, his mother Dorothy, his children from his first marriage Jay, Jon and Karyn, his nine grandchildren, his sister Janis Pupo and her husband Frank, his brother David and his wife Marilyn, his brother Gene, his sister Jorjann Buzzell, his mother-in-law, Molly Wolveck, his brother-in-law Randy Wolveck and his wife Gina.

Donations can be made to the Ronald Linder Memorial Fund at the ALS Association Golden West Chapter.