Bioethics Institute Founder, Scholar Dies

Alyce Stanley Vrolyk, who was the founding director of the Bioethics Institute at Northridge Hospital Medical Center and a former Cal State Northridge professor, has died in Northridge. She was 61.

The institute, which addresses medical ethical issues, will be renamed the Alyce S. Vrolyk Bioethics Institute in her honor at a memorial service scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at the hospital, officials said.

A longtime Northridge resident, Mrs. Vrolyk died Sunday after a six-year battle with cancer, her daughter, Anne Vrolyk, said.

Born Alyce Stanley on Sept. 10, 1928, in Los Angeles, she graduated from Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles. She received a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and a doctorate in philosophy from UCLA and taught a variety of philosophy classes at CSUN from the fall of 1975 to the fall of 1989.

In 1987, Mrs. Vrolyk, along with Dr. Leo Rain and Dr. Carol Katz, founded the Bioethics Institute at the hospital to address ethical issues related to the medical field, such as euthanasia, organ transplant and in-vitro fertilization, said Dave Jakway, senior vice president of the hospital.

“She had the ability to stimulate people to think in terms beyond their biases,” Jakway said.

Four days before her death, she resigned her position as director of the Bioethical Institute, Jakway said.

She was a member of several organizations, including the Los Angeles County Bar Assn.’s Bioethics Committee, the American Philosophical Assn., the American Psychological Assn., the Hastings Center in New York and the Los Angeles Yacht Club. Mrs. Vrolyk lectured nationwide and served as a consultant to several Southern California hospitals that were establishing bioethics programs.

A wine connoisseur, Mrs. Vrolyk in 1980 co-founded The Wine Workshop, a company that sponsored wine-tasting classes. She was also secretary of the Society of Wine Educators from 1984 to 1989.

She is survived by her husband of 40 years, John Vrolyk; sons Beau Vrolyk of Hillsborough, Calif., and Tom Vrolyk of San Francisco; daughter Anne Vrolyk of San Francisco; sister Ann Westvig of Oceanside; and two grandchildren.

At her request, a funeral service will not be held and her body will be donated for medical research, family members said. Aftercare California Cremation and Burial Society in Van Nuys is handling the arrangements. Donations can be made to an endowment in Mrs. Vrolyk’s name at the Bioethics Institute at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.