Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series

The Robbins College Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series brings innovative researchers who are positively impacting the health and well-being of their communities to the Baylor University campus to speak on their research and its impact.

"The Lost Art of Living (& Dying) Well"

October 20, 2026 | 11:15am | Kayser Auditorium

Lydia Dugdale, MD, MAR

Dorothy L. and Daniel H. Silberberg Professor of Medicine at the Columbia University Medical Center and Director of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics; Co-Director of Clinical Ethics at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center

In the Fall 2026 Robbins College Dean's Distinguished Lecture, Dr. Lydia Dugdale will present, "The Lost Art of Living (& Dying) Well."

After the Black Death swept through Western Europe in the mid-1300s, survivors realized they needed to anticipate and prepare for death within the context of their communities. This led to the development of a new genre of books—the ars moriendi, or ‘art of dying’—which became wildly popular and circulated throughout the West for more than 500 years. Central to the ars moriendi texts was the idea that in order to die well, one must first live well. This lecture will explore what it means to live well today, and what that implies for questions of suffering, decay, and mortality.  

ABOUT DR. LYDIA DUGDALE

Lydia Dugdale, MD, MAR, is the Dorothy L. and Daniel H. Silberberg Professor of Medicine at the Columbia University Medical Center and Director of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. She also serves as Co-Director of Clinical Ethics at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. 

A practicing internist, her scholarship focuses on end-of-life issues, the role of aesthetics in teaching ethics, moral injury, mitigating despair, and the doctor-patient relationship. She edited Dying in the Twenty-First Century (MIT Press, 2015) and is author of The Lost Art of Dying (HarperOne, 2020), a popular press book on the preparation for death. She recently completed the manuscript for a forthcoming book on hope. She publishes widely, including in outlets such as The Free Press, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.

Dr. Dugdale attended medical school at the University of Chicago, completed residency training at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and holds a MAR in ethics from Yale Divinity School.

Past Lecturers

• Tyler Cooper, MD, MPH, President and CEO, Cooper Aerobics/Cooper Clinic (Fall 2023)
• Michael J. Joyner, MD, Professor of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic (Spring 2024)
• Katherine A. Hutcheson, PhD, Professor, Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Fall 2024)
• Fabrisia Ambrosio, PhD, MPT,  Atlantic Charter Director of the Discovery Center for Musculoskeletal Recovery, Schoen Adams Research Institute and Associate Professor, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School (Spring 2025)
• Yong-Fang Kuo, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Biostatistics & Data Science, University of Texas Medical Branch  (Fall 2025)
• Anjali Joseph, PhD, EDAC, Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Endowed Chair in Architecture + Health Design and Director of the Center for Health Facilities Design and Testing, Clemson University (Spring 2026)