[RASMB] Death of Gerson Kegeles

[brass at uconnvm.uconn.edu]

I was saddened to learn that Gerson Kegeles passed away on September 8, 
2004.  He was a Professor of Biophysics at the University of Connecticut 
from1968-1982, being previously at Clark University for a number of years.   
After I convinced him to come to UConn, he persuaded David Yphantis and 
Todd Schuster to join us from Buffalo, thus building the ultracentrifuge group 
at UConn.  He made many contributions to the field of biophysics and in 
particular ultracentrifugation.  There are over 20 references to his work 
(covering the development of synthetic boundary cells, data analysis methods, 
and theory) in Schachman’s classical “Ultracentrifugation in Biochemistry”.   
More recently, he may best be remembered for his explanation of  the speed 
dependent molecular weights of aggregates, observed in some sedimentation 
experiments, as being due to the effect of pressure on an association reaction 
having a significant value of the delta-V of association.   He later used 
pressure jump and the subsequent relaxation to study association reactions by 
light scattering.  He was a scientist’s scientist, a kind and understanding 
person, and an excellent colleague.  Contributions from anyone willing to add 
to these remarks will be most welcome.  

Emory H. Braswell, Prof. Biophysics Emeritus,
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT