Richard (Dick) Gregory Lynch, M.D., 1934–2009

Abstract

This In Memoriam highlights the life of Dr. Richard (Dick) G. Lynch.

The field of experimental immunopathology and the discipline of pathology lost a passionate scientist, leader, and educator with the passing of Richard (Dick) Gregory Lynch, M.D. on October 12, 2009. During his nearly 50-year scientific career, Dick made significant contributions to academic pathology as a researcher, as a Chair, as a mentor, and as a public spokesperson. He is survived by his beloved wife Nancy, his three adult children Alison, Brendan, and Matthew, and four grandchildren.

Born on April 9, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York, Dick attended Brooklyn College and then served as a weatherman in the United States Navy from 1952 to 1956, during which time he participated in atomic bomb tests in the Marshall Islands at Bikini. Dick’s reflections of the Bikini atomic bomb tests are included in his memoirs, which were recently accepted for national publication.

On his return from the Marshall Islands, Dick completed his education at the University of Missouri and The University of Rochester College of Medicine. Trained in experimental pathology by the late, great Paul Lacy at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital (Washington University, St. Louis, MO), Dick completed his pathology residency and fellowships at Washington University in the 1960s. After completing his formal training, he was appointed to increasingly important academic positions at Washington University, eventually becoming Director of National Institutes of Health (NIH) Training Programs in Immunology and Membranes before his departure in 1981.

He then moved his research laboratory to the University of Iowa, where he was named the Clement T. and Sylvia H. Hanson Professor of Immunology and Chair of Pathology in 1981. He also served as interim dean of the University of Iowa College of Medicine from 1993 to 1994 and wrote the initial planning grant that resulted in NIH designation of the Holden Cancer Comprehensive Center. After stepping down as Chair in 1999, he devoted his efforts to his research laboratory. In 2004 he became Professor Emeritus at the University of Iowa, after which he concentrated on writing and mentoring, as well as personal pursuits, especially photographing wildlife and traveling to birding destinations.

Dick had a productive research career that added greatly to our understanding of the pathogenesis of lymphoproliferative disorders. Particularly noteworthy is his seminal work on immunological regulation of plasmacytomas, mechanisms of immunodeficiency in multiple myeloma, and regulation of the Fc receptor. He was passionate about his research. Just a few weeks before his death, he sent me the photograph shown here, which as he himself put it, is an “earlier vintage Dick Lynch” with a background montage of electron micrographs of his own research on myeloma cells. Many of Dick’s scientific accomplishments are summarized in a review on the biology and pathology of lymphocyte Fc receptors published in The American Journal of Pathology in 1998, based on his Rous-Whipple Award Lecture, presented at the 1997 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP).1

When Dick Lynch accepted the Rous-Whipple Award, he noted that the award was especially meaningful to him because he had the “good fortune of being a student fellow in pathology at The University of Rochester during 1963–1964, a time when Dr. [George] Whipple, although officially retired, was still very active and a regular attendee at departmental conferences and a wonderful role model for pathologists of all ages.”1 Dick’s respect for the contributions to biomedical research by scientists who preceded us was a theme on which he expounded when he launched the “Milestones of Investigative Pathology” series for the ASIP Newsletter in 2000 (http://www.asip.org/pubs/milestones.htm). The Milestones articles briefly summarize seminal research findings of primarily the 20th century that have had an extraordinary impact on basic understanding of biological processes, approaches to disease diagnosis and treatment, and global health care.

As a mentor, Dick displayed immense dedication. In addition to a substantial teaching load for the medical school and graduate school curriculum, he mentored nearly fifty graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. In addition, he mentored future leaders of academic pathology in public policy. He was proud to mentor Dr. Michael B. Cohen, his successor as Chair of Pathology at the University of Iowa.

Dick Lynch served on numerous committees, academic search committees, study sections, advisory boards, and editorial boards. Dr. Alan Rabson, former deputy director of the National Cancer Institute, once stated that he knew of no one else in the country who had given more time to peer review for the NIH than Dick Lynch. He was Associate Editor of several well-respected journals, including The American Journal of Pathology from 1981 to 1992.

Dick also made significant contributions to academic pathology organizations. The Association of Pathology Chairs awarded Dick Lynch its prestigious Distinguished Service Award in 2006. Dick served on the ASIP Council from 1993 to 1999 and was President of ASIP from 1995 to 1996. After serving as President, Dick continued to participate in ASIP Council meetings until 2009, serving as a trusted advisor to the elected leadership and as an active member of several committees. Dick also served as a member of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Board of Directors from 1992 to 1996. He represented ASIP and the discipline of pathology in the public affairs arena through the FASEB Public Affairs Committee and contributed to and edited FASEB’s Breakthroughs in Bioscience publications (http://www.faseb.org/News-and-Publications/Breakthroughs-in-Bioscience.aspx). Dick was at the forefront of academic pathology’s campaign in the 1990s to safeguard human tissue resources for research, where he was an ardent spokesperson for the development of a consensus among patient advocates, researchers, and the US Department of Health and Human Services, via a unit now known as the Office of Human Research Protections.

Dick Lynch’s dedication to pathology and his sterling character serve as a shining example to which our discipline’s leaders should aspire. He was a model citizen and exemplary statesman for investigative pathology and for the larger community of biomedical science, known for his integrity and for his humanity.

Figure 1.

An “earlier vintage” of Dr. Dick Lynch (1934–2009).