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Following a lengthy and extraordinarily courageous battle against cancer, Finn Wold died on April 14, 1997. As the Robert A. Welch Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, Finn remained active and productive even as death was imminent. Although wrought with pain and physically weakened by multiple rounds of therapy and surgery, Finn attended the 1996 annual meeting of the Protein Society in San Jose; his customary affable personality, unabated optimism, and expressed concern for others were truly inspirational. Finn is survived by his wife, Bernadine ("Bernie" to all who know her), their two sons Eric and Marc, his mother Herdis and his sister Ruth Henrichsen in Stavanger, Norway, and his sister Gerd Sturzenegger in Geneva, Switzerland. Marc and his wife Madeline Shea, both faculty members in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Iowa, have two sons, 5-year old Michael and newborn Arthur. Eric, who works in construction, lives in Minneapolis. Finn, the son of Sverre and Herdis Wold, was born in Stavanger, Norway on February 3, 1928. After graduating with a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Oslo in 1950, Finn heeded his pioneering spirit and began graduate studies at Oklahoma State University aided by a Fulbright Fellowship. Transcending the significance of his earned M.S. in chemistry in 1953, Finn's stint in Stillwater culminated in marriage to Bernadine Moe, now residing in Houston. Subsequently, Bernie and Finn moved to the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied with Clinton E. Ballou and received his doctorate in biochemistry in 1956 for developing novel strategies for the synthesis of biologically active phosphate esters. During postdoctoral studies at Berkeley, Finn's life-long love affair with enzymes commenced with characterization of equilibria and kinetic parameters of enolase. Armed with strong credentials in bioorganic chemistry and protein structure-function analysis, Finn joined the Chemistry Department at the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1957 (the same year in which he became a naturalized U.S. citizen) as an Assistant Professor, and advanced to the rank of tenured Associate Professor in 1962. In 1966, he accepted a Professorship of Biochemistry at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, and from 1974-1979 served as Head of the Department of Biochemistry in the College of Biological Sciences, St. Paul. During his term as Head, Finn worked diligently to elevate the level of collaboration between the two departments and to mitigate costly duplication of effort. In 1982, Finn accepted his final academic appointment as the Welch Chair in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. During the recent memorial service, Jack DeMoss, the past Department Head who recruited Finn, fondly remembered his impact and contributions. "He was ever seeking out challenging scientific discussions, interactions with creative young minds and new innovative experimental approaches. His thoughtful and creative approach to science and his ever youthful passion for ideas enriched all of the academic communities he graced during his career. His strong sense of community responsibility was reflected in his numerous professional activities throughout the scientific community on editorial boards, on advisory committees at granting agencies, on Boards and as officers of professional societies, and through visiting professorships at Universities throughout the world." Regarding his "strong sense of community responsibility," Finn served as elected officer or councilor for the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Biological Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society, and the Protein Society and also served 10- and 9-year terms, respectively, for the Journal of Biological Chemistry and Biochemistry. For many years, he was also a member of numerous fellowship and training selection committees and study sections for the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, and the Veterans Administration. Finn, a charter member of the Protein Society, was elected its second president (1989-1991). Under his leadership and in indispensable partnership with Ralph Bradshaw (the "father" of the Society), David Eisenberg (the Society's first elected president) and Hans Neurath (the first and only editor-in-chief of Protein Science), Protein Science was launched as the Society's journal and quickly attained world acclaim for quality and innovation. Finn was very effective in positions of leadership, in part because of skills in conflict resolution. I recall several Council meetings of the Protein Society in which potentially divisive issues arose-specifics of which, I suspect, have long been forgotten by those in attendance but which, nevertheless, aroused emotions at the time. In his own inimitable fashion, Finn could find a middle ground, without any compromise of principle, around which diverse views could rally. He would ask penetrating questions (Could we . . . ? Should we . . . ? Would it not be better if . . . ? Will the membership be well-served by . . . ? What will be the impact on student and postdoctoral members if . . . ?), listen patiently to all viewpoints, and then offer poignant suggestions. More often than not, a consensus would emerge and the meeting would adjourn with participants convinced that their opinions had prevailed. Finn was well-established as an international leader in the elucidation of structure-function relationships of proteins and, in recent years, focused on the role of carbohydrates as determinants of protein function. Finn was a pioneer in the use of bifunctional protein reagents to measure interresidue distances and thereby predict constraints on permissible conformations. His work stimulated the use of crosslinking reagents to stabilize proteins, to decipher quaternary structure, and to map nearest neighbors in multiprotein complexes. Finn reported one of the first examples of a transition-state analogue, tartronic acid semialdehyde phosphate, which displays unusually high affinity for enolase. Having introduced two classes, of irreversible inactivators of serine proteases, alkyl isocyanates and p-nitrophenylcarbamates, Finn was also at the forefront of the design and use of affinity labels. Other contributions included quantification of the role of metal ions in enzyme-catalyzed reactions, classification and categorization of in vivo chemical modifications of proteins as an avenue for deducing function, demonstration that N-terminal acetylation and deacetylation of proteins likely depend on extensive sequence specificity as recognized by the relevant processing enzymes, and demonstration that the protein matrix surrounding the glycan of a glycoprotein is a key specificity determinant for processing. Originality, rigor, and thoroughness were hallmarks of Finn's investigations; any data that Finn saw fit to publish could readily be reproduced by others. Finn loved to teach and it showed; he literally radiated enthusiasm in the classroom. I suspect that if Finn had been compelled to choose between research and teaching, he would have opted for the latter; I base this opinion on Finn's deeply held conviction that universal education is the key to solving societal ills. Fortunately, research and teaching are natural companions, and Finn excelled in integrating the two endeavors. Beyond his direct influence on students who took his courses, he influenced a far larger population through his text Macromolecules: Structure and Function, which he published in 1971 as part of the Foundations of Modern Biochemistry Series. In the preface, Finn provided a glimpse of both his research philosophy and his character. With respect to the former, Finn quoted George Wald: "I have often had cause to feel that my hands are cleverer than my head. That is a crude way of characterizing the dialectics of experimentation. When it is going well, it is like a quiet conversation with Nature. One asks a question and gets an answer; then one asks the next question, and gets the next answer. An experiment is a device to make Nature speak intelligibly. After that one has only to listen." One of Finn's endearing character traits was his tendency to understate his own contributions and to emphasize contributions of others, as typified by the closing paragraph of the preface: "Finally, in looking back at the genesis of this book, one of the outstanding impressions which will linger for a long time is the generosity of the many colleagues and friends who helped along the way. To all who contributed their time and know-how in constructive criticism, far too many to name individually, I extend my most sincere thanks. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the biochemists who made their data available to me, and to the publishers who helped to catalyze the transition from an idea to a manuscript, and then effected the metamorphism from manuscript to book. Very special thanks for invaluable criticism and help go to my fellow authors and editors in the Biochemistry Series; and to my wife, Bernadine, who patiently endured the whole ordeal with a cheerful smile, and corrected, typed, and retyped, I gratefully dedicate the book." Finn's intellect and brilliance were obvious to all who read his publications. However, those who knew Finn only through the literature, not augmented by personal associations, were slighted. I was indeed privileged to have been Finn's first postdoctoral associate. As gifted mentor, Finn not only introduced me to the excitement and challenges of protein chemistry but, by example, also illuminated fundamental principles of our profession. He embodied those traits that characterize science as an honorable profession: altruism, dedication, honesty, openness, open mindedness, and collegiality. Finn embraced and truly lived the "golden rule;" he was unassuming, generous, compassionate, kind, and gentle-yet strong and possessing of an inner strength rarely encountered. The international protein science community has lost a trend-setting researcher, an inspirational educator, and a selfless supporter of the scientific enterprise. We can only take solace in the realization that Finn's legacy of uncompromising dedication to excellence in the pursuit of knowledge will be propagated for generations due to his imprint on colleagues and students.
Fred C. Hartman |
