News item posted on 2015-06-22

Passing of Richard Armstrong

Below you can find the formal announcement from the Department of Biochemistry of the passing of our colleague Richard Armstrong earlier this week. The CSB, of which Richard was a Core Faculty member, joins the Department in mourning the loss of our colleague.

As noted by Dr. York, Richard played a number of important roles within the institution. I will highlight here just one, selected because it is in my eyes a shining example. I am referring to the invaluable role he has played for many years in educating our first year IGP students as they begin their formal didactic training, i.e in teaching the very first part of their first semester course that is now called Bioregulation. Among his many contributions, this stands out to me because he was crystal clear that this teaching was in no way a burden, but rather a responsibility that he must take on. He was driven to provide all of our students the key underpinning for understanding all that was to come in their biomedical research training because it was what every student needed and it had to be done right. And as a consummate biochemist there was no one more qualified. I am grateful to Richard for showing true leadership in his absolutely characteristic 'roll up his sleeves and get it done' manner, and reflect upon the hundreds and hundreds of students he touched at this critical moment in launching their graduate careers.

While mourning his passing I urge you to also celebrate Richard Armstrong's life and many achievements.

Walter Chazin

***********************************************
Dear Colleagues and Friends: It is with great sadness that I share news of the passing of Richard Armstrong, Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry. Richard served as Editor-in-chief for the journal Biochemistry and held a Foreign Adjunct Professorship at the Karolinska Institutet.

Richard made tremendous contributions to both science and education since arriving at Vanderbilt in 1995. His research focused on how enzymes detoxify foreign molecules including drugs, toxins and chemicals. Taking a multipronged chemical, structural and molecular approach, his work illuminates how these enzymes execute this incredibly important task, which is essential for surviving chemical assaults. Among many honors and recognitions, Richard was elected as a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Chemical Society and won both the ACS Repligen Award and Vanderbilt Stanley Cohen Award. Richard was also a 2014 Arthur C. Cope Scholar. As a teacher, scholar and advisor, Richard’s efforts stood among the very best. Guiding students through the rigors of Chemistry and Biochemistry, he emphasized fundamentals through his numerous lectures each year across the campus. He selflessly served the department and community in many ways: notably through committee work, meeting organization, grant reviews and activities of professional societies. Remarkably, Richard somehow managed to find time to serve the worldwide community as Editor-in-chief of Biochemistry, an honor held by only two other brilliant scientists in the journal’s distinguished 53-year history.

Please bear the Armstrong family in your thoughts.

John D. York, Ph.D.
Natalie Overall Warren Professor
Chair, Department of Biochemistry

Author: Karen D. Davis