William Robert "Bob" Romig

Romig, William Robert (76)
Born on March 4, 1926, to Claude Elbert and Frankye Hartgraves, in Hope, Arkansas. He died on March 11, 2002, at the Barlow Respiratory Hospital, Los Angeles, CA, from complications of emphysema. He attended school in Clinton, OK, graduating from Clinton High School as valedictorian. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Education from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in 1948. Before continuing his education he taught mathematics, biology, and journalism at several schools in southwestern Oklahoma, receiving lifetime teaching certificates in mathematics, chemistry and biology. Bob earned a Master's Degree from the University of Oklahoma and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin. In 1957, he began teaching in the Bacteriology department at the University of California, Los Angeles, as an instructor and was a full professor at the time of his retirement in 1990. During his tenure at UCLA he was departmental chairman for three years and was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1965, for outstanding graduate instruction. Bob and his graduate students studied the structure and genetics of bacterial viruses, and mechanisms of genetic exchange in bacteria. Their results produced a number of publications. Bob belonged to several professional societies while at UCLA. He was an editor of The Journal of Bacteriology, and served on review boards of Virology and the Journal of Molecular Biology. He worked with the National Institutes of Health and was consultant to NASA, working on the Biosatellite Project preceding the moon landing. In 1968, he served as Chairman of the Molecular Genetics section of the 12th International Genetics Congress in Tokyo, Japan. Classical music and art were very important to Bob. He totally enjoyed opera and anything by Mozart. His wife Mary shared his enthusiasm. Bob is survived by his wife of 43 years; two sons, Claude Scott (Lisette) of Forest Grove, Oregon, and Stuart Patrick, Beaverton, Oregon; grandchildren Anya Christina and Ian Robert; and nieces and nephews. We will miss him very much.