Zuher Mohamed Naib

Dr. Zuher Mohammad Naib, age 90, passed away at his home on December 23rd 2017 in Decatur, Georgia, after a long illness. Dr. Naib was born on December 10, 1927 in Aleppo, Syria, and attended the University of Geneva Medical School, graduating in 1952 before coming to the Unites States in 1955.
Dr. Naib was preceded in death by his wife, Nelly Witschi Naib and is survived by his three sons, Farid, Samir and Dean Naib and two grandchildren, Olivia and Savannah Naib.
Dr. Naib was a prominent educator and research physician in the field of Cytopathology. In 1994 he received the Papanicolaou Award in Cytopathology, named after the inventor of the Pap smear, with whom Dr. Naib worked. Dr. Naib also served as the President of the American Society of Cytopathology. Throughout his career, Dr. Naib published numerous papers and wrote a widely used text book on Exfoliative Cytopathology with three published editions. Dr. Naib joined Emory University in 1965 and was a professor at the Emory School of Medicine for over 40 years.
Dr. Naib set up numerous cytopathology labs around the world, including work in Jamaica, Egypt and Lebanon. Dr. Naib was also an early invitee to the Peoples Republic of China, visiting there as a guest of the government shortly after President Nixon’s visit.
Dr. Naib was an avid traveler, and traveled extensively throughout his life. He was fluent in several languages, including English, French, Arabic, Turkish and Spanish. Dr. Naib lived a bold life, both as a doctor in which he broke new ground in his field and as an artist. He was an avid painter and musician and would boast of playing clarinet alongside Louis Armstrong in post war Switzerland.
His family and friends will miss him.