Obituaries
October 6, 2024: Dr. Carl Gustaf Hellerqvist. Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry Dr. Carl G. Hellerqvist passed away on October 6, 2024, at age 83. The news article from the 2009 emeritus ceremony states that Carl G. Hellerqvist received his Ph.D. in chemistry at Stockholm University in 1968 and his filosofie doktor docent degree in carbohydrate chemistry and molecular biology, in 1971. He held the position of assistant professor of organic chemistry at Stockholm University before moving to Johns Hopkins University as a visiting assistant professor and research scientist. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty as an assistant professor of biochemistry in 1974 and was promoted to associate professor in 1982 and to professor in 1999. Hellerqvist published approximately 85 articles while a faculty member at Vanderbilt, many dealing with his primary expertise as a glycobiologist, and two being listed as “citation classics.” He holds 14 patents. He also developed two biotechnology companies, CarboMed, for which he was director/consultant from 1989 to 2001, and AngioPath, Inc., for which he served as director and chief scientific officer from 2000 to 2006. Hellerqvist was a long-time member of the Society for Glycobiology and served as the society’s secretary from 1987 through 1993. He has presented more than 100 invited lectures. He has taught courses in biochemistry and has served on department and university committees. View announcement
March 31, 2024: Ms. Marlene Jayne. Marlene was a long-time administrator for the Department of Biochemistry who retired in 2013 at age 82 after over 40 years of service at Vanderbilt. She was integral to our Department and will be missed. Learn more about Marlene’s adventures on our history page, from a transcript of the standing-room-only presentation (2016) where she spoke about her friend, Dr. Cohen. View announcement.
March 13, 2023: Dr. Tadashi Inagami. Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry Dr. Tadashi Inagami passed away on Monday, March 13, 2023. Inagami, who came to Vanderbilt in 1966, was the first person to purify renal and extrarenal renins; to determine the structure of extrarenal renin; and to clone atrial natriuretic peptide (ANF) and angiotensin II type 1 and 2 receptors and their variants. He trained more than 100 postdoctoral fellows and 12 graduate students and published more than 520 original papers and 147 review articles. He was an invited speaker of numerous scientific societies and received a number of awards, including a Fulbright-Munds Fellowship, a Japan National Academy award, a Humboldt Society Visiting Professorship Award, a Belgian Foreign Ministry Research Award, the Ciba Award of the High Blood Pressure Research Council, the Distinguished Scientist Award of the American Heart Association and a MERIT Award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the NIH. Read more.
March 13, 2023: Dr. Conrad Wagner. Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry Dr. Conrad “Connie” Wagner passed away on Monday, March 13, 2023. Wagner served Vanderbilt for more than 50 years. In his post-military professional life, he progressed from his start as a postdoctoral student in the laboratory of Earl Stadtman to being named assistant professor in 1961, associate professor in 1968 and professor in 1975. He acted as interim chair of the Department of Biochemistry from 1991 to 1992. For more than a half-century, his research in nutritional science focused on folate, vitamins and one-carbon metabolism compounds. This work has resulted in merit awards, fellowships, invited speakerships, government funding and 170 publications and reviews. He was a binding link between Vanderbilt University and the Veteran’s Administration Hospital, encouraging collaboration within that association, serving as chief of the VA Biochemistry Research Unit and as associate chief of staff for research at the VA. Read more. View announcement.
November 7, 2021: Dr. Michael Waterman. Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry Dr. Michael Waterman passed away on Sunday, November 7, 2021. He is survived by his wife Mimi and children. Dr. Waterman was chair of the Department of Biochemistry from 1992 to 2010. The department thrived under Mike’s leadership as he hired many faculty into the department and helped establish several centers, including the Center for Structural Biology, the Mass Spectrometry Research Center, and the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology. His own research focused on P450 enzymes. He published over 300 manuscripts on this topic and trained many students and post-doctoral fellows. He had a big impact on Vanderbilt and on Biochemistry. Read more ASBMB Memoriam ICC P450 Meeting Obituary
July 25, 2017: Dr. H. Alex Brown, the Bixler-Johnson-Mayes Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, age 56, of Franklin, TN. Read more
June 18, 2015: Dr. Richard Neil Armstrong, Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry and Editor of the ACS journal Biochemistry, age 66, of Brentwood, died at Vanderbilt Medical Center, after a brief illness. Read announcements here.
April 28, 2015: Dr. David Ong, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, passed away on April 25, 2015. A retrospective remembrance may be read online here: obituary by Dr. Wagner and article (VU Reporter).
March, 2015: Dr. Oscar Touster, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, passed away in March 2015. A retrospective piece in memoriam is available online here. Additionally, some of his colleagues have contributed some kind words which may be referenced here. Read 1963 Vanderbilt announcement of new Department of Molecular Biology here.
June 11, 2013: Dr. Leon W. Cunningham, 85, died Saturday, June 8, a day before his 86th birthday. His wife of 59 years, Jean Roberta Swingle Cunningham, died in 2007. Dr. Cunningham was well known for his contributions to the fields of enzyme chemistry, glycoproteins and connective tissue biochemistry, and for his commitment to the department and to the graduate students he mentored. Read more Read obituary