It is very saddening to hear this news. It took me a couple of days to wrap my head around it and write.
Thank you for this obituary Bob, which captures so eloquently the breadth of all of Ward's remarkable engagements and contributions. I interacted with him a few times over the course of the Protein Structure Initiative structural genomics programs at the BSGC and JCSG, and more recently over the last couple of years as part of current endeavors. His efforts contributed very significantly to everything I have been doing for the past 15 years too. It is a tremendous loss but a life very well lived with many important contributions to remember. Best regards, Debanu -- Debanu Das, Accelero Biostructures On Sun, Jul 19, 2020 at 4:55 PM James Holton <jmhol...@lbl.gov> wrote: > Ward was the Program Official for all my grants! My life will not be > the same without him. He was always so supportive and helpful with > advice on how to navigate the sometimes convoluted system that is the > NIH. From the Protein Structure Initiative to today his hard work has > made possible my entire scientific career. > > "missed" doesn't seem to cover it. May your rest be a peaceful one, Ward. > > -James Holton > MAD Scientist > > On 7/18/2020 4:36 AM, Sweet, Robert wrote: > > I'm writing to acknowledge the passing of Ward Smith during the weekend > of 5 July. Ward got his PhD with Martha Ludwig at U. of Michigan, and then > came to UCLA in 1977 to join Dave Eisenberg’s group as a postdoc. During > the course of things, he met Cheryl Janson, a Paul Boyer postdoc, and they > were married in 1980. During his time at UCLA Ward became expert in > operation of the Xuong/Hamlin/Nielsen multi-wire system at UCSD and tutored > the UCLA users in its use. In 1985 Ward and Cheryl left UCLA and went to > Monsanto in St. Louis, where Ward worked as a structural biologist. In 1987 > they went to Agouron Pharmaceuticals in San Diego. And then in 1995 went > cross-country to SmithKline Beecham (which became Glaxo SmithKline, merging > with GlaxoWellcome). > > > > Ward was very involved with getting IMCA set up as a functional facility > for pharmaceuticals at Argonne as SmithKline's representative. This > experience gave him significant credibility in synchrotron macromolecular > crystallography, and in 2003 he joined the GM/CA-CAT beamlines at the APS > to help Bob Fischetti and others construct that excellent facility. During > this time Cheryl worked at Shamrock Structures. > > > > Ward moved to the NIH headquarters in 2007. There he took some > responsibility for the Protein Structure Initiative, also playing an > important role in supporting NIH synchrotron facilities. In 2010 he became > the branch chief for the Structural Genomics and Proteomics Technology > Branch in the Division of Cell Biology and Biophysics. He remained in that > position through 2017. At the 2018 NIGMS re-organization Ward went to the > Biophysics, Biomedical Technology, and Computational Biosciences division > as the branch chief for the Biomedical Technology Branch. > > > > Ward helped oversee the big NIH-funded, $45 M construction of three > major beamlines at NSLS-II, a project called ABBIX that ran 2011-2017. In > 2017 he became program director for NIH support of structural biology > beamlines at NSLS-II and other DOE synchrotrons. > > > > Many knew Ward for his always calm, reasoned demeanor; he was > unflappable, resilient, and friendly. He was well read and devoted to his > family. > > > > ================================================ > > Robert M. Sweet E-Dress: sw...@bnl.gov > > Scientific Advisor, CBMS: The Center for BioMolecular > > Structure at NSLS-II > > Photon Sciences and Biology Dept > > Brookhaven Nat'l Lab. > > Upton, NY 11973 U.S.A. > > Phones: 631 344 3401 (Office) > > 631 338 7302 (Mobile) > > ================================================ > > ######################################################################## > > > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 > > > > This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a > mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are > available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/ > > ######################################################################## > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 > > This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a > mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are > available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/ > ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/
