Ernest G. Napolitano, DC, was an innovator in chiropractic education for more than a quarter century. When he died on June 2, 1985, the chiropractic profession knew that one of its great ones has passed on. L. Ted Frigard, DC, penned a memorial in August issue of Chiropractic Economics that identified Napolitano as a “noble man.”

He is remembered best as the individual most responsible for the transformation of the Columbia Institute of Chiropractic into the modern New York Chiropractic College and for guiding chiropractic to recognition within the State of New York.

“Nappy,” as he was affectionately known to many, was born on February 20, 1914 in New York City, where he would spend almost all of his life. A 1942 graduate of the Palmer School of Chiropractic who had interned in the B.J. Palmer Clinic, Napolitano subsequently served in the U.S. Army’s medical corps during World War II and was awarded the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. He undertook an ICA-sponsored research fellowship after the war and returned to New York to practice.

Although the State of New York was still unlicensed terrain for chiropractors in the 1950s, it is not known that he ever suffered the ignominy of arrest.

In addition to his private practice, Napolitano served as academic dean of the Atlantic States Chiropractic Institute in New York in the mid-1950s. When Frank Dean, MB, DC, founding president of the Columbia Institute of Chiropractic (CIC), passed away in 1958, the CIC board of trustees turned to Napolitano for leadership.

In 1959 he was appointed to the presidency of the Institute, a post he held until his death.

He accomplished many things during his years of service:

• Gave the campus a facelift. Among his first projects was a modernization of the aging campus of the 40-year-old CIC in Manhattan, a difficult task given the drooping enrollment at the school as veterans’ benefits from the Korean War expired.

• Joined the quest for accreditation. As the possibility of a national merger of chiropractic associations loomed larger in the early 1960s, Napolitano, who had served on the International Chiropractors’ Association’s (ICA’s) Board of Control, led the CIC into accreditation with the newly formed American Chiropractic Association’s Council on Education.

Napolitano later decided to help establish a rival accrediting body, the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (no relationship to today’s ACC), which competed with the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) for federal recognition. When CCE got the nod from the U.S. Office of Education in 1974, Nappy and the CIC changed course again. He eventually served (1982-84) as president of the CCE.

• Earned recognition from NYS. Ernest Napolitano achieved a major goal when he acquired recognition for CIC from the New York State Department of Education, an accomplishment which prompted the renaming of the school: New York Chiropractic College (NYCC).

• Relocated college to Long Island. Another proud accomplishment was the relocation of the college to a campus on Long Island. The new facilities were part of the New York Institute of Technology, which also housed the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. The two professional schools shared instructors for the initial two years of basic science instruction, but otherwise had little interaction.

With funds provided by the state, a new classroom building was erected which provided a state-of-the-art environment for students and faculty. Nappy eventually amassed more than $17 million in funds from New York State for the NYCC.

• Awarded 13 honorary degrees. Napolitano was a frequent speaker at chiropractic seminars and conventions, and was a prolific contributor of papers to various journals on topics including pediatrics, juvenile delinquency, educational standards, jurisprudence and principles of chiropractic.

He was well known beyond the profession as well, perhaps most significantly for his work with the United Nations. Kudos came to him repeatedly, including some 13 honorary degrees, fellowships in nearly a dozen learned societies and innumerable awards.

• Co-founded AHC. Napolitano was a co-founder of the Association for the History of Chiropractic in 1981 and had just been elected the society’s president when he passed away in 1985. And after a quarter century at the helm of the NYCC, his departure left a leadership void that the college would find difficult to fill.