Port Jefferson School District Mourns BOE Member's Passing

Residents of the village and the Port Jefferson School District are mourning the passing of one of their own after Isak Prohovnik died suddenly earlier this week.

The Port Jefferson School Board of Education issued a statement on the passing of Prohovnik on Tuesday night:

The Board of Education, Administration and the entire staff of the Port Jefferson UFSD were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Board of Education member Dr. Isak Prohovnik. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Prohovnik's family and friends. He has faithfully served the community as a Board of Education member since July 1, 2011, and he will be sorely missed. The family of Dr. Prohovnik asks that their privacy be respected and would prefer no contact –  however well-intentioned –  as they grieve.

Prohovnik was elected to the school board with the most votes out of three challengers for two open seats in 2011. Previous to that, he served as a member of the Budget Advisory Committee for two years.

A professor of Psychiatry and Radiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (NYU) in New York, Prohovnik's research area concentrated on the aging brain, according to a letter he wrote last year when seeking a board seat.

Prohovnik lived in Port Jefferson for seven years after moving to the village from Stony Brook with his wife and daughter.