Gerald Litwack, PhD, a retired professor of biochemistry, a prolific author, and a longtime member of AACR, died September 29, 2023, at the age of 94.
Born in Boston, Litwack received his doctoral degree in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin in 1953 and conducted postdoctoral research at the Biochemical Institute of the Sorbonne in 1953-1954.
He was an assistant professor of biochemistry at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, from 1954 to 1960, and associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Medicine in Philadelphia from 1960 to 1964.
Litwack moved to the Temple University School of Medicine as a professor and deputy director of the Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology from 1964 to 1991. He was professor and later chair of the department of pharmacology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia from 1991 to 1996 and also deputy director of the Kimmel Cancer Center from 1991 to 1997. He was chair of Thomas Jefferson’s department of biochemistry and molecular pharmacology from 1996 to 2003, as well as vice dean for research.
In 2003, he moved to Los Angeles and became a visiting scholar at the Department of Biological Chemistry of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He then moved back east to found the Department of Basic Sciences at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Pennsylvania. His last academic post was as professor of molecular and cellular medicine and associate director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center.
An AACR member since 1973, Litwack was an associate editor of Cancer Research from 1975 to 1986. He published more than 300 scientific papers and worked as an author and editor for academic publishers for more than 40 years, writing three textbooks and editing more than 65 books and serials. These included Vitamins and Hormones, the longest-running series published by Elsevier/Academic Press.
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Gerry hired me into his department at TCMC in Scranton. I knew of him and his work but had not met him prior to this. I found him to be welcoming and very approachable. He was a rare item; a scholar and a gentleman, and I'm grateful for the time we were together. He cheerfully autographed a copy of his biochemistry text for me, and I value that very much.
Gerry was an amazing mentor and friend who will forever be in my heart. He guided me through my PhD dissertation at Jefferson and many years later, brought me to Scranton, PA to start a medical school where he was loved by all. He will be truly missed.