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In Memorium: Dr. David F. Bohr

 

 

David F. Bohr, a professor of physiology at the University of Michigan who was an expert on hypertension, died Tuesday, November 4, 2008.  He was 93 years old and lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Dr. Bohr was born in Zurich, Switzerland, lived for five years as a boy in Cuba, and received most of his childhood education in southern California.  In 1933, he entered the University of Michigan, matriculated in 1936 in its medical school and graduated in 1942.  Bohr interned at Henry Ford Hospital for one year before being assigned by the U.S. Army to a Dutch hospital ship for three years of duty as laboratory officer and detachment commander (1943-46).  Dr. Bohr trained for two years as a research fellow at the University of California in San Francisco (1946-48).  Following this fellowship, he returned to the University of Michigan, and in 1957 was promoted to the rank of professor.

 

He was internationally known for his work on the role played by the vasculature in the development of hypertension.  He was the recipient of many awards, including the 1984 Ciba Award for Hypertension Research and the Gold Heart Award from the American Heart Association.  In 2007, Dr. Bohr received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Michigan.

 

Dr. Bohr was a dedicated educator who mentored numerous scientists and students.

Dr. Bohr served many scientific societies including the Council for High Blood Pressure Research of the American Heart Association and the American Physiological Society.  He served on the Hypertension Task Force for the National Institutes of Health from 1978-79. From 1965-68 he was a member of the Committee on Physiology of the National Board of Medical Examiners (1965-68) and he also served on the Cardiovascular Review Panel for the Space Science Board of the National Academy of Sciences (1968-72).  As president of the American Physiological Society (1978-79), Dr. Bohr visited Cuban medical schools and observed Cuban health care, and promoted exchange of information between Cuban and American physiologists.

 

David Bohr took great pleasure in the game of tennis throughout his life.  Family, friends and students enjoyed his ready sense of humor, his compassion, optimism and love of learning.

 

Dr. Bohr was preceded in death by his wife Kathleen (Katie) earlier this year.  They were married in 1940 and were friends as teenagers.  Dr. Bohr is survived by a son, John Nicholas Bohr, theoretical mathematician and database consultant of Ann Arbor; two daughters, Ann (Barbara) Bohr Benner, non-profit administrator and social worker, of Charlottesville, Virginia and Louise Ann Bohr, Professor of Literacy Education at Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago.  Grandchildren are Thomas Bohr Benner of Brooklyn, New York and Jack Allen Benner, of Charlottesville.

 

A memorial service, titled David Francis Bohr, M.D., Gentleman Scientist ,was held on Saturday January 31, 2009 in Ann Arbor at the Michigan League, League Ballroom (www.umich.edu/~league) from noon to 4:00PM.  In lieu of flowers, contributions should be made to the David F. Bohr Quasi Endowment, Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan, 1301 E. Catherine, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109  (www.physiology.med.umich.edu).

 

 

 

september 2008

Congratulations to:

Dr. Richard Mortensen:
promoted to Professor of Molecular & Integrative Physiology.

 

Dr. Anatoli Lopatin:
promoted to Associate Professor of Molecular & Integrative Physiology.

 

Dr. Liangyou Rui:
promoted to Associate Professor of Molecular & Integrative Physiology.

 

Dr. Lisa Larkin:
promoted to Research Associate Professor.

 

Dr. John Faulkner:
recipient of the Kinesiology Alumni Society Board 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

Dr. Fred Karsch:
recipient of the Endocrine Society 2009 Roy O. Greep Award Lecture.

 

Janet Hoff:
2008 Support Staff Member of the Year.