OBITUARY Thomas F. Zuck
To those of us who had the privilege of working with Dr Thomas Zuck (Tom) during his time at Hoxworth Blood Center, it was obvious that he loved the field of transfusion medicine and the emerging challenges associated with it. He was a dynamic individual and one who led by example. His contributions were many and he served as a mentor to those he worked with as well as an advocate for the field of transfusion medicine. Tom was born December 13, 1933, in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, receiving a bachelor of arts in political science in 1955. That same year, he was accepted to Yale Law School, where he spent the next 3 years earning his LLB (Legum Baccalaureus). Later this became the more familiar “Juris Doctor” law degree more familiar to most of us. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1958. One pauses to reflect on what the transfusion medicine field would have lost if Tom had not chosen to move on to Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia the following year.
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Sometime during his early busy years, he was fortunate to have met Susan Shorb, who became his wife on July 15, 1961. She remained at his side at the beginning of what was to become one of the more prodigious transfusion medicine careers that spanned the next 53 years. Within 2 years of his marriage, Tom graduated with his medical degree (MD) in 1963. By May 1963, he was commissioned as a First Lieutenant, Medical Corps, United States Army Reserve and was accepted for a rotating internship at Tripler US Army Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. Full residency followed at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, where Tom was commissioned the Regular Army in 1965. Not surprisingly, he served his last year as Chief Pathology Resident until his graduation in 1968. His Ohio Medical License and Anatomical and Clinical Boards were earned shortly thereafter. Not only did Tom’s career grow while in Denver, but so did more important aspects of his early life. Family became a focus as Frederick and Andrew were born. Tom’s love of photography resulted in his first exhibit of his work at the Phoenix Gallery of Fine Arts. To our knowledge, his love of photography did not diminish over the years. As with his successes in his early career and personal life, Tom had two separate venues for pursuing success in transfusion medicine, through the military and later as a civilian. In the military, Tom began his sojourn into the field of transfusion medicine shortly after graduation from medical school, starting as Medical Director in Blood Bank and Coagulation at Fitzsimmons and eventually rising to Assistant Chief Pathologist by 1974. Later in 1974, Tom was assigned to a 3-year appointment as Chief Pathologist at the Letterman Army Institute of Research (LAIR) at the Presidio of San Francisco. During this time, he led a team that was instrumental in facilitating the approval of extended storage of red blood cells with adenine, something he considered one of his greatest accomplishments. After 3 years, he was assigned as Chief Pathologist of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he achieved the rank of Colonel within 1 year. Tom stayed at Walter Reed until his next posting in 1980, when he became Deputy Director, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and served as a pathology consultant to the Surgeon General, US Army, until 1982. Once again, Tom returned to the Presidio, this time as Volume 55, February 2015 TRANSFUSION 459
OBITUARY
Commander of LAIR until 1985. In the final years of his military career, Tom was “loaned” out by the Department of Defense to assume the role of Director, Division of Blood and Blood Products, Office of Biologics Research and Review, Food and Drug Administration, until his active duty retirement in 1987. There is a saying we feel is apropos that states (paraphrasing): “If you want to get something done, give it to a busy man.” During his time in the military, Tom held more than 19 different appointments with various committees, associations, and boards, which notably included multiple AABB committee appointments including President in 1979-1980, 7 years as Editor in Chief of TRANSFUSION (1981-1987) and service as a consultant to the World Health Organization. Coincidently, Tom’s awards and honors during this time were numerous including the Meritorious Service Medal, AABB’s Bernice Hemphill and John Elliot Memorial Awards, the Legion of Merit, and two Commissioner’s Special Citations from the FDA. Tom did not slow down upon entering civilian life. His second journey in transfusion medicine began with his appointment as Director of Hoxworth Blood Center in 1987. Early on he became involved with FDA and CAP HIV/AIDS-related committees, including grant reviews for viral inactivation technologies. Tom also became active in the Council of Community Blood Centers (now America’s Blood Centers) leadership hierarchy, eventually becoming President in 1991. His expertise was also valued through his editorial activities for NIH Research, as a reviewer for other publications such as Science, New England Journal of Medicine, TRANSFUSION, and Vox Sanguinis and as a consultant. Tom was once again “loaned” to the New York Blood Center for almost 9 months. As with his military career, the awards and recognition continued. Among several honors bestowed: the Blundell Medal from the British Society of Blood Transfusion; induction as a Fellow, Royal Col-
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lege of Physicians–Edinburgh; Royal College of Ireland; the AABB’s W. Quinn Jordan Memorial Award; and the creation of the ABC Thomas F. Zuck Lifetime Achievement Award. While honored nationally and internationally, one of Tom’s prouder moments while at Hoxworth had a local and more immediate connection. We remember one of his proudest moments was when he recognized the efforts of his son Fred. Fred had just finished the second annual Five Points of Life bike ride, a 3000-mile trek from Los Angeles to St Augustine. It would have been difficult to imagine a prouder father at that time. We miss his ability to point out where we were behind and his tactful humor at times in doing so. Upon his arrival in 1987, he casually mentioned that fax machines might be a good investment for the blood center. We will miss his ability to predict coming trends in our industry well ahead of the curve. In his last message to the staff in 1999, he pointed out that the need to prepare for a future in which seeking partners to form alliances would become our most pressing issue for survival. But mostly, we will miss the man who made the careers of those around him better through his guidance and expertise in the field of transfusion medicine. We celebrate his life by honoring the memory of his career, remembering a life well lived, and aspiring to live up to a legacy well worth emulating. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest.
Ronald A. Sacher, MD e-mail: [email protected] Gregg Boothe, MS, MT(ASCP)SBB Hoxworth Blood Center Cincinnati, OH
To those of us who had the privilege of working with Dr Thomas Zuck (Tom) during his time at Hoxworth Blood Center, it was obvious that he loved the field of transfusion medicine and the emerging challenges associated with it. He was a dynamic individual and one who led by example. His contributions were many and he served as a mentor to those he worked with as well as an advocate for the field of transfusion medicine. Tom was born December 13, 1933, in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, receiving a bachelor of arts in political science in 1955. That same year, he was accepted to Yale Law School, where he spent the next 3 years earning his LLB (Legum Baccalaureus). Later this became the more familiar “Juris Doctor” law degree more familiar to most of us. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1958. One pauses to reflect on what the transfusion medicine field would have lost if Tom had not chosen to move on to Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia the following year.
C 2015 AABB V
TRANSFUSION 2015;55;459–460
Sometime during his early busy years, he was fortunate to have met Susan Shorb, who became his wife on July 15, 1961. She remained at his side at the beginning of what was to become one of the more prodigious transfusion medicine careers that spanned the next 53 years. Within 2 years of his marriage, Tom graduated with his medical degree (MD) in 1963. By May 1963, he was commissioned as a First Lieutenant, Medical Corps, United States Army Reserve and was accepted for a rotating internship at Tripler US Army Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. Full residency followed at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, where Tom was commissioned the Regular Army in 1965. Not surprisingly, he served his last year as Chief Pathology Resident until his graduation in 1968. His Ohio Medical License and Anatomical and Clinical Boards were earned shortly thereafter. Not only did Tom’s career grow while in Denver, but so did more important aspects of his early life. Family became a focus as Frederick and Andrew were born. Tom’s love of photography resulted in his first exhibit of his work at the Phoenix Gallery of Fine Arts. To our knowledge, his love of photography did not diminish over the years. As with his successes in his early career and personal life, Tom had two separate venues for pursuing success in transfusion medicine, through the military and later as a civilian. In the military, Tom began his sojourn into the field of transfusion medicine shortly after graduation from medical school, starting as Medical Director in Blood Bank and Coagulation at Fitzsimmons and eventually rising to Assistant Chief Pathologist by 1974. Later in 1974, Tom was assigned to a 3-year appointment as Chief Pathologist at the Letterman Army Institute of Research (LAIR) at the Presidio of San Francisco. During this time, he led a team that was instrumental in facilitating the approval of extended storage of red blood cells with adenine, something he considered one of his greatest accomplishments. After 3 years, he was assigned as Chief Pathologist of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he achieved the rank of Colonel within 1 year. Tom stayed at Walter Reed until his next posting in 1980, when he became Deputy Director, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and served as a pathology consultant to the Surgeon General, US Army, until 1982. Once again, Tom returned to the Presidio, this time as Volume 55, February 2015 TRANSFUSION 459
OBITUARY
Commander of LAIR until 1985. In the final years of his military career, Tom was “loaned” out by the Department of Defense to assume the role of Director, Division of Blood and Blood Products, Office of Biologics Research and Review, Food and Drug Administration, until his active duty retirement in 1987. There is a saying we feel is apropos that states (paraphrasing): “If you want to get something done, give it to a busy man.” During his time in the military, Tom held more than 19 different appointments with various committees, associations, and boards, which notably included multiple AABB committee appointments including President in 1979-1980, 7 years as Editor in Chief of TRANSFUSION (1981-1987) and service as a consultant to the World Health Organization. Coincidently, Tom’s awards and honors during this time were numerous including the Meritorious Service Medal, AABB’s Bernice Hemphill and John Elliot Memorial Awards, the Legion of Merit, and two Commissioner’s Special Citations from the FDA. Tom did not slow down upon entering civilian life. His second journey in transfusion medicine began with his appointment as Director of Hoxworth Blood Center in 1987. Early on he became involved with FDA and CAP HIV/AIDS-related committees, including grant reviews for viral inactivation technologies. Tom also became active in the Council of Community Blood Centers (now America’s Blood Centers) leadership hierarchy, eventually becoming President in 1991. His expertise was also valued through his editorial activities for NIH Research, as a reviewer for other publications such as Science, New England Journal of Medicine, TRANSFUSION, and Vox Sanguinis and as a consultant. Tom was once again “loaned” to the New York Blood Center for almost 9 months. As with his military career, the awards and recognition continued. Among several honors bestowed: the Blundell Medal from the British Society of Blood Transfusion; induction as a Fellow, Royal Col-
460 TRANSFUSION Volume 55, February 2015
lege of Physicians–Edinburgh; Royal College of Ireland; the AABB’s W. Quinn Jordan Memorial Award; and the creation of the ABC Thomas F. Zuck Lifetime Achievement Award. While honored nationally and internationally, one of Tom’s prouder moments while at Hoxworth had a local and more immediate connection. We remember one of his proudest moments was when he recognized the efforts of his son Fred. Fred had just finished the second annual Five Points of Life bike ride, a 3000-mile trek from Los Angeles to St Augustine. It would have been difficult to imagine a prouder father at that time. We miss his ability to point out where we were behind and his tactful humor at times in doing so. Upon his arrival in 1987, he casually mentioned that fax machines might be a good investment for the blood center. We will miss his ability to predict coming trends in our industry well ahead of the curve. In his last message to the staff in 1999, he pointed out that the need to prepare for a future in which seeking partners to form alliances would become our most pressing issue for survival. But mostly, we will miss the man who made the careers of those around him better through his guidance and expertise in the field of transfusion medicine. We celebrate his life by honoring the memory of his career, remembering a life well lived, and aspiring to live up to a legacy well worth emulating. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest.
Ronald A. Sacher, MD e-mail: [email protected] Gregg Boothe, MS, MT(ASCP)SBB Hoxworth Blood Center Cincinnati, OH
