Avroy Fanaroff was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa and attended high school in Johannesburg. He completed his medical school at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa and then completed training in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics in South Africa and the United Kingdom. To develop expertise in the new specialty of Neonatology he immigrated to Cleveland Ohio and was awarded a Ford Foundation scholarship. He spent his entire academic career at Case Western Reserve University and Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital which included directing a nationally recognized top five Neonatal program for over 20 years.

He is the past Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and now the Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at Case Western Reserve and Emeritus Eliza Henry Barnes Professor of Pediatrics. Under his leadership, Rainbow became a founding member of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s (NICHD) Neonatal Research Network, which coordinates research efforts in neonatal medicine and management among NICU’s nationwide.

Avroy Fanaroff has received many awards including the prestigious 2002 Apgar Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics; election to the Cleveland Medical Hall of Fame and being named a Legend in Neonatology. He has also received two education awards from the American Academy of Pediatrics; the Professional Education Award and the Perinatal section Neonatology Education Award. The latter is now the Avroy Fanaroff Neonatal Education Award.

Dr. Fanaroff was awarded Honorary Doctorates from the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Turku in Turku, Finland. Additionally, in 2005, he was elected to an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health (London). He was the second recipient of the University Hospitals Distinguished Physician Award in 2009, and received the Saltzman Award for community service, and the Founder Award from the Midwest Society for Pediatric Research. Avroy has also received accolades and awards in Asia, Africa and South America and served on the executive committee of the American Board of Pediatrics and as a Board Member of the University Hospitals Health System. In addition to three hundred peer reviewed publications, he has three major text books to his credit. The first Care of the High Risk Neonate with Dr. Marshall Klaus has been translated into many languages and the last three editions have been co-edited with his son Jonathan Fanaroff (M.D., J.D.). Together with Dr. Richard Martin, Avroy coedits Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine, now in its 12th edition; and is co-editor of Neonatology at a Glance with Tom Lissauer from London now in its 4th edition. He was also the senior editor of the Yearbook of Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine for 30 years. Avroy has numerous listings as a best Doctor in Cleveland and the USA and Marquis’s Who’s Who and served as ”Council” to the executive committee of the Perinatal section of the American Academy of Pediatrics for over a decade.

The Fanaroffs have three married children, Jonathan (Kristy), Jodi Tucker (Peter) and Amanda Hirsh (Jason) and seven grandchildren.

Avroy is a sports enthusiast who suffers with the Cleveland sports teams. He enjoys golf, bridge and photography.