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In Memoriam: Joseph Massaro

Joseph Massaro, a funny, caring, and humble scholar whose lifelong love of math was eclipsed only by his love for his family, died October 19 while in home hospice care. He was 58.

Massaro, a professor of biostatistics, was a dedicated teacher who shepherded hundreds of students through Applied Statistical Methods in Clinical Trials I and II, winning several teaching awards in the process. Through his productive scholarship, enthusiastic guidance of students, and professional work as a biopharmaceutical consultant, Massaro’s fertile career touched all elements of the School’s mission of “Think. Teach. Do.”

In a message to the SPH community to mark Massaro’s passing, Dean Sandro Galea said, “His work embodied the standards of excellence that sustain all we do at SPH.”

Associate Dean for Education Lisa Sullivan, whose friendship and professional collaboration with Massaro began in the mid-1980s, remembered him as “an incredibly dedicated” teacher and scholar whose passion for his field was an inspiration to all.

“He changed lives, but never took any credit. He supported colleagues, but always under the radar.  I feel so privileged to have known Joe and to be part of his amazing life,” said Sullivan, a graduate school classmate. “I will miss his incredible sense of humor and his kindness. Everything was always better when Joe was there.”

Massaro received a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Boston College in 1985, then completed his PhD in mathematics/statistics from BU in 1994. He joined the Department of Biostatistics at SPH in 1998.

Kimberly Dukes, executive director of the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center, first met Massaro in 1987 when both were mathematics graduate students. Massaro had a “magnificent brain,” Dukes said, and a knack for teaching that made him able to “communicate hard concepts succinctly to his clients, colleagues, and students.”

Dukes and Massaro were also colleagues at Quintiles, a large biopharmaceutical research contractor that is now IQVIA. Massaro was an ideal colleague and collaborator with a gift for dealing with people as adeptly as he handled numbers. Said Dukes, “Professionally he was on top, integrating kindness and humor into every situation leaving you feeling like you couldn’t wait until the next encounter.”

Massaro was a Bay State native—born in Cambridge, raised in Stoneham, educated in Boston—who made his home in Bedford with his wife Monica and daughters Anna and Karina. Where he flourished most, Dukes said, was in the love and commitment he had for his family and friends. “I see so much of Joe in his girls, who are simply remarkable.”

Over the past several weeks, friends, colleagues and family shared stories of “how wonderful and unique Joe was, telling stories that made you laugh and cry,” Dukes said. “He made everything better and I feel privileged that I was part of his life.”

Even when teaching complex topics, Massaro had a way of incorporating lightness into the heaviest discourse, Dukes said. One of Massaro’s classic lines that he used while teaching was “ANOVA, ANOVA, send Joe right over,” a wonderfully stat-geeky twist on the children’s playground game Red Rover. “I never got tired of hearing it and I already miss him saying it.”

Mary Murphy-Phillips, assistant dean of students, said Massaro’s irrepressible humor and subversive wit turned even the most mundane administrative events into sources of glee.  “He was the person you couldn’t sit next to in a meeting because he would get you in trouble for laughing, but he was definitely the person you wanted to stand next to at a social event as he had you in stitches from beginning to end, all while strategically balancing a glass of chardonnay,” Murphy-Phillips said.

 “I am sad that future students will not be able to experience the joy he brought to the classroom,” Murphy-Phillips said, “but for those of us who had the pleasure to work with Joe, we are all happier humans thanks to the smile he still puts on our face when we think of him.” 

A Mass of Christian burial will be held at St. Michael Church, 90 Concord Rd., Bedford, on Saturday, November 5, 2022, at 11:30 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to a fund setup by Boston University School of Public Health colleagues to support Anna and Karina’s education.  https://gofund.me/c575e453