Dr. Benjamin Rosenthal

Dr. Benjamin Rosenthal was born in 1958 in Chicago to a family of educators and healthcare professionals. From a young age, he showed both intellectual brilliance and deep compassion for others-qualities that would define his medical career.

After graduating summa cum laude from Northwestern University, Dr. Rosenthal attended Harvard Medical School, where he developed a passion for pediatric cardiology. He completed his residency at Boston Children's Hospital, where he trained under some of the world's leading pediatric heart specialists.

In 1990, Dr. Rosenthal returned to Chicago and joined the faculty at University of Chicago Medical Center. Over his 34-year career, he became one of the nation's most respected pediatric cardiologists, known for his exceptional surgical skill and his gentle bedside manner. He performed thousands of surgeries, giving children with congenital heart defects the chance at healthy lives.

But Dr. Rosenthal's impact extended far beyond the operating room. Recognizing that many families lacked access to quality pediatric care, he established the Rosenthal Children's Heart Foundation in 2000. The foundation funded free clinics in underserved Chicago neighborhoods, providing screening, treatment, and follow-up care to children whose families couldn't afford it.

He was also a dedicated educator, mentoring over 100 medical residents and fellows. His students remember him as demanding but supportive, always pushing them to excellence while reminding them that medicine is as much about compassion as it is about science.

Dr. Rosenthal was actively involved in his synagogue, serving on the board and teaching in the religious school. He and his wife, Rachel, raised three children and instilled in them the values of service and compassion.

He passed away in 2024 after a brief illness, leaving behind a legacy measured not just in lives saved, but in the countless physicians he inspired and the model of compassionate care he embodied.