Ben Kean

Benjamin H. Kean ( – 1993) was an American physician, author, researcher, and professor at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. Kean was born in Valparaiso, Indiana, and grew up in West Orange, New Jersey and Manhattan. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and earned a medical degree at Columbia University. Kean was an expert in tropical and rare diseases. He helped discover the cause of traveler's diarrhea and was also the personal doctor to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was Shah of Iran from 1941 until 1979. Kean died of colon cancer at the age of 81. He was also alleged to have played a central role in convincing the United States to allow the deposed Shah of Iran to be admitted into the US for medical treatment. President Carter's decision to allow this contributed to the Iran hostage crisis.

Personal life Kean was married three times One of his ex-wives was the dance patron and philanthropist Rebekah Harkness.