MORTON SCHWARTZ

SCHWARTZ--Dr. Morton, K.,

PhD, FACB, Chairman of the Department of Clinical Laboratories and Head of the Laboratory of Applied and Diagnostic Biochemistry at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, has died at the age 91. The cause of death was advanced Parkinson's disease. He served as president of American Association of Clinical Chemists, chairman of the FDA Administration Clinical Chemistry and Hematology Panel, was a member of the NCI Immunodiagnostic Study Section, and Secretary of the National Committee on Health Laboratory Services. He was considered the "father" of automated clinical chemistry. He was the first to describe automated methods for measuring enzymes in the blood and the application of computers to automated analysis. He was deeply involved in studies of tumor markers and their use in predicting prognosis and in monitoring patients with cancer. He received the prestigious Van Slyke Award from the AACC and the Wiley Medal and Commissioner's Citation of the FDA. He was born in Wilkes-Barre, PA. He received his B.A. degree with honors in chemistry from Lehigh University in 1948, and in 1952 as a Fellow of the National Cancer Institute received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Boston University. He served in the US Navy during World War II as a Communication Officer in the Aleutian Islands. He is survived by his wife Delia Schwartz; his brother Arthur Schwartz, two sons, Gary and Ronald, daughters-in-law, Amy and Connie, and two grandchildren, Brian and Katherine. In lieu of flowers, please donate in his name to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research www.michaeljfox.org A memorial service will be held at John Krtil Funeral Home, 1297 First Ave., NY, NY 10021 on Friday, February 24, 2017 at 10:30am.