Dr. Fred Fay
Karl Bellve
Fredric S. Fay, 53, Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology at the
University of Massachusetts Medical School and a member of the Program in
Molecular Medicine died unexpectedly March 18, 1997 in Halle, Germany
where he was presenting a paper to the German Society for Cell Biology. He
was born in New York City, the son of Claire and Herbert Fay. His parents
emigrated from Germany in 1937 to escape Nazi oppression. He graduated
from the Bronx High School of Science in 1961, and then attended Cornell
University where he graduated cum laude with distinction in all subjects and
was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Dr. Fay received his Ph.D. in Physiology at
Harvard University where he studied the mechanism of contraction of muscle
cells as a Samuel A. Levine Fellow of the Massachusetts Heart Association.
He then became one of the founding faculty members at the newly
established University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1970. At
UMMS, his seminal research on the function of smooth muscle cells
provided the basis of modern understanding of how these cells contract and
opened a new field of investigation that has attracted scientists around the
world. He also pioneered the development of the digital imaging microscope
which allows researchers and clinicians to study living cells in new ways,
paving the way for lifesaving insights on how those cells work. His
laboratory has received international recognition and has been visited by
distinguished scholars from Europe, Asia and the Americas. During his
twenty-seven years at UMMS, he mentored numerous medical students,
graduate students and post doctoral fellows who have become faculty
members at universities throughout the world. At UMMS, he was the first
member to be recognized by the NIH with a Research Career Development
Award. Dr. Fay received numerous awards and research grants, including
the Telegram and Gazette 2000 Enterprise Award in 1991, the Admiral R.
Earl Award of the Worcester Engineering Society, and the Glaxo
Cardiovascular Award. His accomplishments include over 100 publications
in leading scientific journals. He will be sorely missed by his wife, Dr.
Madeleine Fay, Endocrinologist, Fallon Clinic, his sister, Louise Fay
Bergman, his sons, Drs. Andrew Fay and Nicholas Fay, resident physicians
at UMMC, his daughter Isabel Fay, and his grandchildren Sarah, David and
Julia.
In lieu of flowers, please send memorial donations to the Fredric S.
Fay Memorial fund c/o H. Maurice Goodman, Department of Physiology at UMMS,
55 Lake Ave., Worcester, MA 01655
Dr. Karl Bellve
Biomedical Imaging Group
University of Massachusetts
WWW : http://molmed.ummed.edu/~kdb/
Email: k...@molmed.ummed.edu
Paul Goodwin
Karl-
I, and many others I am sure, join you in grieving this great man. He is
one of a parsal of scientist who profoundly effected my thinking and
approach to this marvelous world of 3-D microscopy. My thoughts and
prayers go out to this family. If you have a chance to meet with the
family please pass on the condolences of the microscopy community and
thank them for sharing Fred with us.
Sincerely,
Paul Goodwin
________________________________________________________________________________
Paul Goodwin
Instrumentation Laboratory
FHCRC, Seattle, WA
barbara foster
Our sincerest condolences to the Umass staff and family of Dr. Fay. He
was an incredible catalyst for growth in microscopy and, especially in
3-D imaging, and will be sorely missed.
Barbara Foster, President
Microscopy/Marketing and Education