Liebe F. Cavalieri

1919 - 2013

NORTHAMPTON - Liebe F. Cavalieri passed away Thursday, July 11, 2013, in Northampton.

Liebe Cavalieri, an early pioneer in nucleic acid research, was educated as a biochemist at the University of Pennsylvania. The focus of his many scientific publications was on DNA and DNA polymerases. His career was spent largely at Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York City, now part of Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he was a member [Professor].

In the early days of genetic engineering technology he was the first to alert the general public to its potential dangers, with an article in the New York Times Magazine published Aug. 22, 1976, and subsequent public commentary.
Following retirement from Sloan-Kettering he moved to the State University of New York at Purchase, now Purchase College, and took up his longtime interest in mathematics to analyze procedures for controlling the environmental spread of alien genes in agriculture.

His other great passion was the violin, which he played from childhood and on which he published several articles. Throughout his life he overcame many physical challenges, starting with an undiagnosed hip infection at the age of seven that left him with an irregular gait.

He is survived by three children from his first marriage, Ralph Liebe Cavalieri of Maryland and Claudia Kellogg and Frances Cefalu, all of Connecticut, and by his wife of 43 years, Barbara Hatch Rosenberg Cavalieri.

Contributions in his honor to the Union of Concerned Scientists, 2 Brattle Square, Cambridge, MA 02138, www.ucsusa.org) would be appreciated.

To sign a Guest Book, express condolences, share memories and read other obituaries, go to www.gazettenet.com/obituaries.