Alan Greenfield ’82
Alumni Achievement in Science - Medicine
One person at a time, Alan Greenfield has made the world a little bit better. He is a humble person who has spent his career as a radiologist helping hundreds, probably thousands, of people, one at a time. His mantra is, “If you help one person, you have changed the world.” His mother inspired him to work with the chronically ill (she had multiple sclerosis), and his strong moral compass for compassion and care remains a powerful force in his life.
Greenfield came to Muhlenberg because of the small classes and direct access to professors. He was a natural science and psychology major who knew he wanted to be a physician. Nelvin Vos provided the intellectual fireside comforts of home and was the most influential professor Greenfield had during his time at Muhlenberg.
Muhlenberg provided the education and Allentown provided the opportunity. Greenfield began his life of giving back by volunteering at an Allentown hospital and working with a local ambulance corps, as well as tutoring children with disabilities. After graduating with honors, he headed to medical school and a residency in diagnostic radiology at Stony Brook University Hospital on Long Island.
As a radiologist, Greenfield has worked in medically underserved areas of Brooklyn and in the socioeconomically depressed areas of Virginia. He volunteered with search and rescue crews after 9/11, in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and with women and children in crisis in New York State. Even with his travels within and outside of the U.S., Greenfield’s best friends are those he met at Muhlenberg. He calls them his extended family from “Benfer 105” and Zeta Beta Tau. Today, their children are friends with each other and several of them went to Muhlenberg.
