Charles Henry Markham

Markham, Charles Henry
December 24, 1923 - November 16, 2010
Charles H. Markham, M.D. (Charlie) passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 86 at his home in Santa Barbara, California.
Born in Altadena, California, he attended Flintridge Preparatory School, then the Colorado School of Mines from 1941 to 1943. In 1943, Charlie enlisted in the U.S. Army, and was eventually deployed to the European theater as a member of the Combat Engineer Regiment. After leaving the Army in 1945, he completed his undergraduate work with great distinction at Stanford University, then earned his medical degree at Stanford Medical School. Charlie received his training in neurology at Boston City Hospital and National Hospital in London. He joined the faculty of the Department of Neurology at UCLA in 1956, becoming head of the movement disorders division, and retired as Emeritus Professor of Neurology in 1995. Moving to Santa Barbara, California in 1995, he received an appointment as Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at UCSB. He continued his work there until the time of his death. He wrote or co-wrote nearly 200 medical publications in his lifetime.
Charlie achieved international recognition for his research in two diverse fields. His work in Parkinsons disease included some of the earliest investigations of levodopa, and its effect on longevity and progress of the disease in patients given this medication. He also was a noted vestibular physiologist, with particular emphasis on the function of the otolith organs in the inner ear. This work involved conducting experiments in parabolic flight in Houston (NASA) and Europe (ESA), as well as studies on the Russian Mir station.
Charlie is survived by his wife Lisa of 39 years, and children Chuck, Arthur, Daphne, Jim, John and Sara; eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Although extremely committed to his profession, he always reserved time for his family. Charlie took great care to maintain good relationships with each of his six children and was quite proud of their accomplishments and who they were as people.
Donations in his memory may be made to The Dystonia Medical Research Foundation: (312) 755-0198, dystonia@dystonia-foundation.org , Samsung Medical Clinic: (805) 681-7726, dhartley@sansumclinic.org , or Land Trust for Santa Barbara County: (805) 966-4530, info@sblandtrust.org.
A Celebration of his Life will be held for family and friends at 5:00 PM on Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 at La Cumbre Country Club in Santa Barbara, California.