Oliver Sacks, M.D., FRCP, was a renowned neurologist, best-selling author, and professor of neurology at the NYU School of Medicine. Often referred to by The New York Times as the "poet laureate of medicine," Dr. Sacks was celebrated for his unique approach to understanding patients with neurological disorders.

Born in London, Sacks received his medical degree from Oxford University (Queen’s College) before moving to the United States, where he completed his internship at Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco and his residency at UCLA. He spent much of his career as a consulting neurologist at Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx, working with survivors of the encephalitis lethargica epidemic, which inspired his book Awakenings. This book was later adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro.

Dr. Sacks authored numerous best-selling books, including The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, and An Anthropologist on Mars. His works often explored the far borderlands of neurological experience and have been adapted into various artistic expressions, including plays, films, and operas.

An advocate for neurodiversity, Sacks wrote extensively about conditions such as Tourette’s syndrome, autism, and aphasia. He held honorary degrees from several prestigious institutions and was an honorary fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Dr. Sacks’s contributions to both literature and medicine were profound, earning him a place as one of the foremost clinical writers of the 20th century. He passed away in 2015, leaving behind a legacy of compassion and curiosity toward the human mind.