Beverly Crusher

See Crusher for other articles with titles that contain, either by relationship or by coincidence, this character's surname.

This page details Beverly Crusher in the primary universe; for the Beverly Crusher in the mirror universe see Beverly Crusher (mirror); for the Beverly Crusher in the First Splinter timeline ended by the Devidian temporal apocalypse, see Beverly Crusher (1ST); for the Beverly Crusher in all other alternate universes see Beverly Crusher (alternates).

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow: The following content contains spoilers!

Doctor Beverly Cheryl Howard Crusher MD, was a Starfleet officer who served as chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise-D and USS Enterprise-E for many years from 2364 to the 2380s, under Captain Jean-Luc Picard, with brief stints serving as head of Starfleet Medical in 2365 and 2379.

This character is a member of the Howard-Crusher family.

This character is a member of the Picard family.

Biography

Beverly Cheryl Howard Crusher was born (prematurely) as Beverly Cheryl Howard, daughter of Paul and Isabel Howard, on 13 October 2324 in Copernicus City on Luna. When Beverly was three (and a half) years old, her parents were killed when their research vessel was destroyed by an Ubarrak warship. From that time she was raised by her grandmother, Felisa Howard, on the small colony world of Arvada III. (TNG episode: "Conundrum"; ST video game: Star Trek: Starship Creator; TNG novel: Death in Winter)

In 2339 a disaster exhausted the colony's medical supplies. The elder Howard had learned how to use the local roots and herbs for medicinal purposes during the Arvada III disaster. This sparked Beverly's interest in the medical field. Following the disaster, Beverly and her grandmother moved to Caldos colony, where Felisa worked as a local healer. (TNG episodes: "The Arsenal of Freedom", "Sub Rosa"; TNG novel: Death in Winter)

Jack Crusher

At the age of 18, Beverly entered Starfleet Medical Academy and toward the end of her medical studies, was introduced to Starfleet officer Jack Crusher of the USS Stargazer by acquaintance Walker Keel. The couple was soon engaged to be married. In 2344, Beverly first met Jack's Captain on the Stargazer, Jean-Luc Picard, at the Utopia Planitia Shipyards on Mars. (TNG episode: "Conspiracy"; TOS novel: Vulcan's Heart)

Jack proposed to Beverly through the use of the gag gift of a book entitled, "How to Advance Your Career Through Marriage". Beverly accepted and the two were married in 2348 in a ceremony performed in San Francisco. Although Jack's assignment to the Stargazer kept the couple apart for long stretches, they corresponded often and got together whenever they could. In late 2348 Jack got an unexpected leave and was able to spend time with his wife, which resulted in Beverly becoming pregnant. She later gave birth to the couple's only child, Wesley, on July 29 2349. Because of his deep-space assignment aboard the Stargazer, Jack was unable to return until five days after Wesley was born. (TNG episode: "Family"; TNG novels: Imbalance, Death in Winter, The First Virtue, Losing the Peace, ST website: StarTrek.com)

Unfortunately, their marriage was short-lived as Jack was killed trying to detach a damaged warp nacelle from the body of the Stargazer in 2354. Picard personally brought his friend's body home to Earth and Beverly. (TNG novel: Reunion)

StarTrek.com gives the year of Jack Crusher's death as 2355.

Starfleet

Beverly entered Starfleet in 2342 and spent several years Earth-bound at Starfleet Medical. After being on Earth for several years, Beverly interned on Delos IV under the tutelage of Dalen Quaice and his wife. In addition, sometime during her early career in Starfleet she was stationed on Tau Ceti III and the USS Prague. While serving on the Prague, the ship was hit by a tachyon field, which offered her the opportunity to push the boundaries of her medical training. In 2354, Beverly served as assistant CMO onboard Starbase 32, when the base's CO Admiral Jerusalmi came to inform her that Jack had been killed in service. After her husband's death, and in part motivated by her son's well-being, Beverly turned down an offer to serve as CMO of the USS Hammarskjöld and resigned from Starfleet. After leaving Starfleet in 2354, following the death of Jack, Beverly moved to Earth and worked in private practice in St. Louis, before returning to Starfleet in 2360. (ST video game: Star Trek: Starship Creator; TNG novelization: Encounter at Farpoint; TNG novel: Losing the Peace)

In 2360, Beverly assisted Admiral Nyota Uhura of Starfleet Intelligence in a top-secret investigation of the Romulan disease known as the gnawing. (TLE novel: Catalyst of Sorrows)

Beverly didn't want to be restricted in rank just because she was a doctor, and worked her way through the ranks during her early Starfleet career. In 2362, Beverly took the bridge officer's test and was promoted to full Commander, allowing her to assume command if the situation called for it. During her tenure aboard the Enterprise, Beverly often commanded the night-shift. Captain Picard again relied on his old confidant's command capabilities during his investigation into the Borg Collective after the Oniaka III massacre. These leadership experiences may have been the prelude to her eventual rise to command. In a possible future, she was in charge of the medical starship USS Pasteur by the 25th century. (TNG episode: "Thine Own Self"; TNG episode: "Descent, Part I"; TNG episode: "All Good Things...")

The StarTrek.com website suggests the year of the Bridge Officers Examination as 2363.

Beverly also worked on Khyme's Syndrome, earning herself a Nobel Prize. (TNG video game: The Transinium Challenge)

The Star Trek The Next Generation video game The Transinium Challenge (circa 2364) gives Beverly's rank as Lieutenant Commander. The game also indicates that Beverly had a mid-life switch to embrace the "adventure of deep space".

Aboard the Enterprise-D

Beverly 2364 FASA — Beverly Crusher in 2364.

In 2364, Beverly applied for the position of chief medical officer aboard the Enterprise and her application was accepted. She would be working under her husband's old Captain, Jean-Luc Picard, which she didn't view as a problem, though there was some initial discomfort from Captain Picard. (TNG episode & novelization: Encounter at Farpoint)

During her time aboard the Enterprise-D, she proved popular and spearheaded many activities aboard ship, such as an acting workshop and giving dancing lessons to Data. Over the years, Beverly and Picard formed a very close friendship that always stopped just short of becoming romantic.

A few weeks after her assignment aboard the Enterprise, the starship was called to Archaria III to deal with a large scale disease that was killing the Peladian colonists on the planet. Crusher battled to find a cure for the disease along with the medical staff aboard the USS Constitution. Crusher and her team discovered that the disease was engineered from a sample of Rhulian flu. Thankfully, Lieutenant Natasha Yar was able to obtain a sample of the cure for the disease, and Beverly was able to engineer a vaccine. (TNG - Double Helix novel: Infection)

In early 2365, Beverly was offered the position as Head of Starfleet Medical and she accepted, though Wesley remained aboard the Enterprise. During her time at Starfleet Medical, she worked closely with Carter Greyhorse, another former crewmate of her husband's, and Lewis Zimmerman. She supported Zimmerman's plan to develop the Emergency Medical Hologram and provided the initial funding. (TNG episode: "The Child"; TNG novels: Vectors, Reunion, A Time to Sow) She also taught at least one course at Starfleet Medical Academy, where one of her best students was Elizabeth Lense. (SCE eBook: Oaths)

After a year as head, she decided to return to her post aboard the Enterprise, replacing Katherine Pulaski. In late 2367, the Enterprise crew discovered that the insectoid Jarada were suffering with a biochemical imbalance that was causing insanity. Beverly and Dr. Selar were able to develop a cure and presented it to the Jarada, but they didn't want to take the cure or have any dealings with the Federation. (TNG novel: Imbalance)

Mid-2368 saw Dr. Crusher inadvertently stopping a war between the Krann and the Lethanta after she discovered that the virus that had decimated the ancient Krann was a natural occurrence, and not an act of aggression by the Lethanta. (TNG novel: The Last Stand)

Shortly thereafter, Beverly worked with Leonard McCoy to develop a serum to a disease that was similar to the one that had struck Archaria III, only this time it affected the Romulan royal family. The two doctors were able to synthesize a vaccine after obtaining a clean blood sample from Zevon's unborn child, as Zevon and his wife Sykora had been on PojjanPiraKot when the virus struck. (TNG - Double Helix novel: Red Sector)

In her command role, Beverly occasionally lead the Enterprise. In 2370, she commanded the vessel when it came under attack from a Borg vessel while most of the crew were searching for Data on a nearby planet. Later in the year she took command while the rest of the senior staff were attempting to reveal the activities of a Starfleet conspiracy. To cover her comrade's activities, she told Admiral Adams that the Enterprise was suffering an outbreak of Andorian measles and, as such, Captain Picard was unable to explain why the Enterprise had returned to Earth. (TNG episode: "Descent"; TNG comic: "An Inconvenient Truth")

Crusher remained aboard the Enterprise in 2371, when the starship was destroyed by a Klingon Bird-of-Prey in orbit of Veridian III. The crew survived aboard the saucer section, which was forced to crash on the surface of Veridian III. After the situation was over, Beverly directed the medical teams at the crash site until the USS Farragut arrived. (TNG movie: Star Trek: Generations)

Aboard the Enterprise-E

Beverly joined the rest of Picard's command crew when the Enterprise-E launched in 2372. (TNG novel: Ship of the Line)

In 2375, Beverly worked with Dr. Julian Bashir on starbase Deep Space 9 when the Dominion engineered a virus that _targeted Vulcans. The cure was found after consulting the notes of a 22nd century Starfleet doctor named Phlox. (ST short story: "Mirror Eyes")

Destiny

Beverly left the Enterprise in 2379 to again serve as head of Starfleet Medical. (TNG novel: Star Trek: Nemesis)

25th century

In 2385, Beverly Crusher was promoted to the rank of captain and given command of the USS Pasteur. She maintained her command and rank through at least 2390. The first job under her command was to help in rebuilding medical facilities on Cardassia Prime. A task force assigned to the vessel and working with the Cardassian Ministry of Science finds a potential cure to Yarmin Fel Syndrome in 2390.

In 2401, Crusher held the rank of admiral and was one of a group of Starfleet officers who petitioned the Federation Council to get involved in the Klingon-Gorn War. A year later she settled on Earth while becoming head of Starfleet Medical again. In 2407 she commented on the Phylosian virus with confidence, despite the complications in treating it due to Phylosian anatomy. (ST website: The Path to 2409)

Hobbies and interests

Beverly and Deanna Troi in holodeck program *Crusher 54*

Beverly has long enjoyed dancing: favored styles include tap and jazz, though she also went a bit more freestyle attending a disco in the holodeck program Crusher 54 where she danced with her holographic partner Mikey. Beverly also has a vivid interest in theatrical arts; she was responsible for putting together several performances on the Enterprise. Beverly is also an accomplished holoprogram writer. In 2371 she wrote a holoprogram to explore her feelings for Jean-Luc Picard after he detailed his glimpses of the future given to him by Q. (TNG comic: "Captain's Pleasure"; TNG episodes: "The Nth Degree", "Frame of Mind", "A Fistful of Datas"; TNG - War and Madness comic: "The First Casualty")

Starfleet service record

location	assignment	dates	rank or rate	assignment insignia
Starfleet Medical	student officer	2342-2346	cadet	Assignment badge.
USS Prague	junior medical officer	2346	ensign
Starbase 32	assistant chief medical officer	2346-2354	lieutenant
Resigned		2354-2360
Starfleet Intelligence	investigator	2360	lieutenant commander	Assignment badge.
USS Enterprise-D	chief medical officer	2364-2365	commander
Starfleet Medical	Head of Starfleet Medical	2365-2366
USS Enterprise-D	chief medical officer	2366-2371
USS Enterprise-D		2366-2371		Assignment badge.
USS Enterprise-E		2372-2379
USS Enterprise-E		2372-2379
USS Pasteur	CO	circa 2380s-2390s	captain
SS Eleos XII	Doctor	circa 2380s-2401
USS Titan-A	Doctor	2401	Commander
Starfleet Medical	Head of Starfleet Medical	2401-	Admiral

Appendices

Connections

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) medical personnel
	Asenzi • Bond • Calloway • Chandra • Crusher • D'Airo • Faraday • Gavar • Gold • Iovino • Itoh • Johnson • Lewis • Marino • Nigata • Ogawa • Pulaski • Selar • Tanaka • Tarses • Temple • Troi
see also: engineering personnel • pilots & flight control personnel • operations personnel • security & tactical personnel • sciences personnel • senior staff • unnamed

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) senior staff
commanding officers:	M. Bateson • J.L. Picard • W.T. Riker • Data	first officers:	W.T. Riker • Data • Worf	second officers:	G. Bush • Data • M. Kadohata • G. La Forge
watch officers	Evan • Heyes • Lynley • Havers	chief medical officers:	B. Crusher • Stevenson	ship's counselors:	D. Troi • T'Lana • Hegol D.
chief engineers:	M. Scott • G. La Forge	operations managers:	Data • M. Kadohata • R. Dygan	flight controllers:	S. Hawk • S. Nave • J. Faur
security chiefs:	L. Addison • P. Daniels • Rowan • B. Leyoro • R. McAdams • C. Vale • S. Nave • L. Battaglia • Z. Leybenzon • J. Choudhury • A. Šmrhová
see also: engineering personnel • medical & counseling personnel • operations personnel • pilots & flight control personnel • security & tactical personnel • sciences personnel • miscellaneous • unnamed

USS Enterprise-E medical & counseling personnel
Chief medical officers	B. Crusher • Stevenson	Ship's counselors	D. Troi • T'Lana • Hegol D.
Medical personnel	Amavia • T. Harstad • J. Jurot • B. McGlynn • Meldok • A. Mimouni • E. Neil • A. Ogawa • Ojibwa • Po • Rymond • th'Shelas • Tropp • S. Weinstein • Zseizaz
see also: engineering personnel • operations personnel • pilots & flight control personnel • security & tactical personnel • sciences personnel • senior staff • miscellaneous • unnamed

Chief medical officers of the starships Enterprise
Enterprise (NX-01)	Phlox
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)	Poole-April • Boyce • Piper • McCoy • Chapel
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (Kelvin timeline)	Puri • McCoy
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (other alternate realities)	McCoy • Boyce • Carlotti • M'Benga
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)	McCoy
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) (alternate realities)	Carlotti
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B)	Metcalfe • Michaels • McCoy • Morell
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C)	Casado • Stern • Aristide
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)	Crusher • Pulaski
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) (alternate realities)	Ogawa
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)	Crusher • Stevenson
ISS Enterprise (NX-01)	Phlox
ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)	Boyce • McCoy • M'Benga
ISS Enterprise (ICC-1701-D)	Crusher

USS Theseus personnel
	Crusher • Data • Descheeni • Koraxi • Olanolan • Paris • Sato • Scott • Shaxs • Sisko • T'Lir • unnamed
see also: Personnel roster