William Sudia

Family-Placed Death Notice

SUDIA, William DR. WM. DANIEL SUDIA CDC Pioneer, Arbovirologist and Entomologist, Dr. Wm. Daniel Sudia has died. He was 88. A career officer in the US Public Health Service, Dr. Sudia first joined the fledgling Center for Disease Control in 1951 as a Medical Entomologist in the Virus-Vector Unit in Montgomery, AL. He transferred to Atlanta when the Center built its first coordinated campus on Clifton Road in 1960. It was in the late fifties that Dr. Sudia worked with Dr. Roy Chamberlain to design an innovative new light trap to capture mosquitoes for viral studies. With this lightweight portable trap, Dr. Sudia and his colleagues were able to increase the number and variety of mosquito catches in the field. This achievement subsequently enabled Dr. Sudia and his colleagues to study eight different encephalitis viruses - Eastern, Western, St. Louis, California, Venezuelan - and Mahogany Hammock, Gumbo Limbo, and Shark River, the last three of which were new to science at the time. During the 1960s, Dr. Sudia conducted major ecological studies in the Everglades and Georgia. This work led to the development of standard practices of investigation which were applied in later significant encephalitis epidemics. After being name Chief of the Arbovirus Ecology Laboratory, Bureau of Laboratories, Dr. Sudia investigated the Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis (VEE) epidemic that struck Texas and northern Mexico in 1971. His work in the field, and later in the laboratory, identified the mosquitoes which transmitted VEE to animals and humans. It also showed that horses - not birds and rodents as previously thought - were the main hosts in the VEE epidemic cycle. When he identified a new species of mosquito during this research, Dr. Sudia named it Culex Cedeci in honor of the Centers for Disease Control. In addition to his research, Dr. Sudia served as CDC consultant to field and laboratory studies being conducted by the Ministries of Health in Jamaica, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela, Honduras, Mexico and Ecuador. He also consulted on arboviral research with the Public Health Laboratories in California, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, Arizona, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Maryland and New Jersey. For his accomplishments, Dr. Sudia received the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) Superior Achievement Award in 1972, and the USPHS Commendation Medal in 1978. He was also awarded the prestigious United States Public Health Service Medal for his work in "developing and applying standard methods for large-scale investigations of arbovirus outbreaks in the US." In the presentation, the vital role his and Dr. Chamberlain's light trap played in these investigations was acknowledged. In the presentation, the vital role his and Dr. Chamberlain's light trap played in these investigations was acknowledged. Throughout his 37 year career, Dr. Sudia wrote and co-wrote more than 80 scientific papers based on his ecological and laboratory studies, as well as field and laboratory manuals on the study of arboviruses. In 1988, CDC's Mosquito News named his and Dr. Chamberlain's paper on their light trap a Classic Paper for being the second most cited entomological paper in the history of the publication. Dr. Tom Monath, a subsequent Chief, Arboviology Unit, Bureau of Laboratories, CDC, Atlanta, and Director, Division of Vector-borne Infectious Diseases, CDC, Ft Collins CO, asserts Sudia "is widely recognized by all arbovirologists as one of the great entomologists whose work lay the foundations for many of the principles of the discipline of arbovirus transmission. He also had a wonderful sense of humor and equanimity. I can never remember him getting truly upset even when things were difficult, and he always saw the positive and funny side of a problem. He had a remarkable fund of knowledge that I drew on as a young scientist getting into the field. He will be greatly missed." Dr. Sudia retired from CDC as Scientist Director in 1984. In retirement, Dr. Sudia was as accomplished in his avocations as he was in his vocation. He designed and built furniture, crafted stained glass windows, and amassed one of the largest collections of barbed wire east of the Mississippi. He is best known, however, for his intimate photographs of birds. On field trips for CDC, Dr. Sudia had become fascinated with the birds he was studying and began photographing them. His photographs subsequently appeared on the covers of Georgia Game and Fish, BioScience, and Outdoor World magazines, as well as in the books How to Attract Birds, American Birds, The Beauty of the Outdoor World, and The Wonders of Wildlife in America. A number of his photographs are still represented by Photo Researchers in New York City. Until his death, Dr. Sudia continued to receive requests from all over the world to use his photos in publications, on websites and on products such as t-shirts, aprons and tote bags. Today, the Georgia and Florida Museums of Natural History house the largest collections of his bird photographs on the internet. Born in Ambridge, PA, Dr. Sudia obtained his undergraduate degree at the University of Florida, and his Master's and PhD in Entomology from Ohio State University. Prior to joining CDC, he worked in Malaria and Mosquito Control in the War Arenas for the US Army at Camp McCain, MS. A graveside service will be held at 11:00 A. M. Thursday, December 30, 2010 at Floral Hills Memory Gardens with Rev. Berte Lorentz officiating. The family will receive friends Wednesday evening from 7:00 to 9:00 P.M. at the funeral home. Dr. Sudia was preceded in death by his beloved wife Margueritte Elizabeth (Polly) Delony. He is survived by his daughters, Shawn Sudia Skehan and Shelly Sudia Spahr, his sons-in-law Paul Skehan and Terry Spahr, and his grandson Matthew Sudia Spahr, all of Atlanta. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Lillian Delony of Decatur, GA, a brother Dr. Theodore Sudia, and sister Dorothy Sudia Evancho, both of Pittsburg, PA, and many nieces, nephews and friends. A. S. Turner & Sons (404) 292-1551.