Frank Talamantes, PhD, a powerful advocate for Latino scientists and an emeritus member of the AACR, died October 8, 2018, at age 75.
Talamantes was born in 1943 in Los Angeles. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of St. Thomas in Houston in 1966, and his master’s degree in biology from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, in 1970. He earned a PhD in endocrinology from UC Berkeley in 1974.
Talamantes joined the UC Santa Cruz faculty in 1974. He was a professor of molecular, cell, and development biology, and later served as vice provost and dean of graduate studies from 2000 to 2004. After retiring from UC Santa Cruz in 2004, Talamantes moved to his hometown of El Paso, Texas, where he joined the faculty of Texas Tech El Paso School of Medicine as a professor and assistant dean for research in 2005.
A leading endocrinologist, Talamantes’ research focused primarily on hormones, including work on the growth receptor hormone and the role of placental lactogens in breast cancer susceptibility.
Talamantes was a founding member of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, known as SACNAS. He served as the organization’s president from 1987 to 1990, leading SACNAS through significant growth.
Talamantes joined the AACR in 2004. Among numerous career awards, he received a National Institute of Health Merit Award Research Grant, the Endocrine Society’s Sidney H. Ingbar Distinguished Service Award, the Berson Lectureship from the American Physiological Society, and was named the Transatlantic Medal Lecturer by the British Society for Endocrinology. He was also recognized for Outstanding Leadership and Contributions to Education in the Hispanic Community by the American Association of Higher Education.
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