[RASMB] Ken van Holde

[Borries Demeler]

Dear Colleagues,
I am saddened to let you know that my mentor Ken van Holde passed early
Saturday morning, surrounded by his children, in Corvallis, Oregon.

Ken was a remarkable scientist, mentor, role model, and full of humanity. 
I had the privilege to join his lab in the late 80'ties when I started my
PhD at Oregon State University in Corvallis. He was well known from his
biophysical work using analytical ultracentrifugation, studying hemocyanin
and the structure and function of chromatin. He also contributed a large
body of research to AUC methodology and solution biophysics, including
several textbooks.

His career in academia started at the University of Wisconsin in Madison
with an undergraduate degree, and later a PhD. If I recall correctly,
it was there that he first encountered an analytical ultracentrifuge.
He continued as assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin in
Milwaukee, and in 1957 he moved to the University of Illinois where
he advanced to Professor. In 1967 he moved to Oregon, to the Dept.
of Biochemistry and Biophysics.

He was an internationally recognized scholar, having received multiple
important awards, including the Monie A. Ferst Award, he was appointed
to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, and he also held the title of American Cancer Society Research
Professor. Ken was further recognized by the Guggenheim foundation, and
received awards from NSF, EMBO, and the Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique. He traveled frequently and spent considerable time abroad,
primarily in France and Germany, to conduct research with scientists
from many different fields.

When I was in Oregon, every summer he packed up a station wagon and drove
across the country to teach the physiology course at the Marine Biological
Laboratory in Woods Hole, where he also interacted with David Yphantis,
who passed earlier this year.

At Oregon State University, Ken was named an OSU Distinguished Professor
in 1988, and in 1993 he retired as a Distinguished Professor Emeritus.
His career didn't end with his retirement, he still wrote several books
and continued to serve as associate editor of JBC. I'm sure I am leaving
out a lot, but if you have fond memories of Ken, please share them with us.

Regards, -Borries

P.S. I received this from a friend of mine at OSU:

Ken recently produced a book of his poetry and the last poem in the
collection, penned in 2014 is entitled “An Old Man”. It reads:

/Once,/

/When I was young and frantic/

/I saw an old man sitting/

/alone in a garden/

/I thought, how sad/

/that we should come to this./

//

/Now I am old./

/The frenzy is gone./

/I have learned the beauty/

/of a fading afternoon;/

/the mystery of night./

//

/I spend hours/

/sitting/

/watching/

/waiting./