Neil Osgood Hardy, an award-winning medical illustrator, passed away on June 3 at the age of 88. Born in Syracuse New York on July 30, 1929 to Paul Reeves and Marion Osgood Hardy they moved to Belmont New York and then to Sparrows Point, Maryland where he was in high school while his father was an instructor at the Aberdeen Proving Ground during World War II. Neil served in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict, attached to a mapping unit. In 1955 he received a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art.
In 1958 he earned a Certificate in Medical and Biological Illustration from the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. While in school he was an avid swimmer and archer. On his application to the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine program he wrote about his passion for both art and the biological sciences and his great desire to combine them: “Medical Illustration would enable me to utilize both of my major interests in a beneficial way.”
While at Hopkins he studied under Ranice Crosby. It was hard work and much fun especially with fellow students like Howard Bartner and Alan Cole. The AMI shares the many accolades Neil achieved in his generous service to the Association, to the generations of medical illustration students, and to the many clients and professionals with whom he worked.
After graduating from Hopkins, he moved to New York City and began his professional career by starting a department of medical illustration at the Eye Bank for Sight Restoration, a part of Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital and concurrently developed a freelance medical illustration business. In 1962, he launched a full-time freelance business from his home in Westport, Connecticut. Continue reading from Association of Medical Illustrators
