Gary K. Ackers, PhD, professor emeritus, died from problems related to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease Friday, May 20, 2011, in Oro Valley, Ariz. He was 71.
Ackers, the former Raymond H. Wittcoff Professor and head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, had lived in Arizona since 2006 with his wife and scientific colleague, Jo M. Holt, PhD.
Ackers was born in Dodge City, Kansas, and earned undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics from Harding College in Searcy, Ark., in 1961. He earned a doctorate in physiological chemistry from the Johns Hopkins University in 1964. He then held positions at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins University before coming to Washington University School of Medicine in 1989 as department head.
At Washington University in St. Louis, he established the molecular biophysics program and greatly expanded the faculty in the area of biophysics. He remained department head until 1996, when he returned to research and teaching. He became professor emeritus in 2007.
His research focused on the thermodynamics of macromolecular assemblies, in particular oxygen binding to human hemoglobin and protein-DNA systems. Ackers was known for the rigor of his experimental methods, his passion for training scientists and his influence on a generation of biophysicists.
In 1984, he served as president of the Biophysical Society, a national organization, and, in 1987, he co-founded the Gibbs Conference on Biothermodynamics, which honored him in 2010 with the inaugural Gary K. Ackers Lecture in Biothermodynamics.
Ackers also is remembered for his sense of humor and propensity for science puns. During the course of his career, he lectured across the United States, Europe, the former Soviet Union and China.
He is survived by his wife, Jo M. Holt, who was his close collaborator in the last decade of his research career, and by her son, James Hazzard. Ackers also is survived by his first wife, Naomi Caldwell; their children Lisa Ackers, Sandra Ackers and Keith Ackers; and two grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were private.
Ackers, the former Raymond H. Wittcoff Professor and head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, had lived in Arizona since 2006 with his wife and scientific colleague, Jo M. Holt, PhD.
Ackers was born in Dodge City, Kansas, and earned undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics from Harding College in Searcy, Ark., in 1961. He earned a doctorate in physiological chemistry from the Johns Hopkins University in 1964. He then held positions at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins University before coming to Washington University School of Medicine in 1989 as department head.
At Washington University in St. Louis, he established the molecular biophysics program and greatly expanded the faculty in the area of biophysics. He remained department head until 1996, when he returned to research and teaching. He became professor emeritus in 2007.
His research focused on the thermodynamics of macromolecular assemblies, in particular oxygen binding to human hemoglobin and protein-DNA systems. Ackers was known for the rigor of his experimental methods, his passion for training scientists and his influence on a generation of biophysicists.
In 1984, he served as president of the Biophysical Society, a national organization, and, in 1987, he co-founded the Gibbs Conference on Biothermodynamics, which honored him in 2010 with the inaugural Gary K. Ackers Lecture in Biothermodynamics.
Ackers also is remembered for his sense of humor and propensity for science puns. During the course of his career, he lectured across the United States, Europe, the former Soviet Union and China.
He is survived by his wife, Jo M. Holt, who was his close collaborator in the last decade of his research career, and by her son, James Hazzard. Ackers also is survived by his first wife, Naomi Caldwell; their children Lisa Ackers, Sandra Ackers and Keith Ackers; and two grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were private.
Gary K. Ackers, PhD, professor emeritus, died from problems related to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease Friday, May 20, 2011, in Oro Valley, Ariz. He was 71.
Ackers, the former Raymond H. Wittcoff Professor and head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, had lived in Arizona since 2006 with his wife and scientific colleague, Jo M. Holt, PhD.
Ackers was born in Dodge City, Kansas, and earned undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics from Harding College in Searcy, Ark., in 1961. He earned a doctorate in physiological chemistry from the Johns Hopkins University in 1964. He then held positions at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins University before coming to Washington University School of Medicine in 1989 as department head.
At Washington University in St. Louis, he established the molecular biophysics program and greatly expanded the faculty in the area of biophysics. He remained department head until 1996, when he returned to research and teaching. He became professor emeritus in 2007.
His research focused on the thermodynamics of macromolecular assemblies, in particular oxygen binding to human hemoglobin and protein-DNA systems. Ackers was known for the rigor of his experimental methods, his passion for training scientists and his influence on a generation of biophysicists.
In 1984, he served as president of the Biophysical Society, a national organization, and, in 1987, he co-founded the Gibbs Conference on Biothermodynamics, which honored him in 2010 with the inaugural Gary K. Ackers Lecture in Biothermodynamics.
Ackers also is remembered for his sense of humor and propensity for science puns. During the course of his career, he lectured across the United States, Europe, the former Soviet Union and China.
He is survived by his wife, Jo M. Holt, who was his close collaborator in the last decade of his research career, and by her son, James Hazzard. Ackers also is survived by his first wife, Naomi Caldwell; their children Lisa Ackers, Sandra Ackers and Keith Ackers; and two grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were private.
Ackers, the former Raymond H. Wittcoff Professor and head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, had lived in Arizona since 2006 with his wife and scientific colleague, Jo M. Holt, PhD.
Ackers was born in Dodge City, Kansas, and earned undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics from Harding College in Searcy, Ark., in 1961. He earned a doctorate in physiological chemistry from the Johns Hopkins University in 1964. He then held positions at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins University before coming to Washington University School of Medicine in 1989 as department head.
At Washington University in St. Louis, he established the molecular biophysics program and greatly expanded the faculty in the area of biophysics. He remained department head until 1996, when he returned to research and teaching. He became professor emeritus in 2007.
His research focused on the thermodynamics of macromolecular assemblies, in particular oxygen binding to human hemoglobin and protein-DNA systems. Ackers was known for the rigor of his experimental methods, his passion for training scientists and his influence on a generation of biophysicists.
In 1984, he served as president of the Biophysical Society, a national organization, and, in 1987, he co-founded the Gibbs Conference on Biothermodynamics, which honored him in 2010 with the inaugural Gary K. Ackers Lecture in Biothermodynamics.
Ackers also is remembered for his sense of humor and propensity for science puns. During the course of his career, he lectured across the United States, Europe, the former Soviet Union and China.
He is survived by his wife, Jo M. Holt, who was his close collaborator in the last decade of his research career, and by her son, James Hazzard. Ackers also is survived by his first wife, Naomi Caldwell; their children Lisa Ackers, Sandra Ackers and Keith Ackers; and two grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were private.
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