Richard Suzman, 72, studied aging America

Richard Suzman, a National Institutes of Health official who pushed researchers to leap across disciplines in pursuit of knowledge about aging and improving the aging process, died April 16 at a hospital in Bethesda, Md. He was 72.

The cause was complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, said his wife, Janice Krupnick.

Suzman was a South African native transplanted to the United States, where he became a scholar of the phenomenon called the “graying of America.”

He spent nearly his entire career at the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, part of NIH. Since1998 he had served as director of the division of behavioral and social research, one of the largest funders in the United States of research in the social sciences.

Richard Michael Suzman was born in Johannesburg on Aug. 9, 1942. He was a nephew of Helen Suzman, one of South Africa’s most forceful white activists against apart-heid. Survivors include his wife of 38 years, Janice Krupnick of Chevy Chase, Md.; two children, Jessica Suzman of Chevy Chase and Daniel Suzman of Washington; and three brothers.