David Bixler

Dr. David Bixler 76, of North Fort Myers, FL, passed away Tuesday, November 15, 2005. He was born January 7, 1929 in Chicago, IL to David C. and Mary Wall Bixler, who preceded him in death. Indiana's dental students were first introduced to the frontiers of genetics by Dr. David Bixler, who created IU's Department of Oral Facial Genetics in 1971 and served as its chair until retirement in 1993. Considered by many of his postdoctoral students as the quintessential mentor, this witty, soft-spoken professor is best known by his nickname, "Dr. B." The dental school's first "double doc," Dr. Bixler earned a PhD degree in zoology in 1956 and a DDS (with honors) in 1959 from IU. He also was a postdoctoral fellow with the U.S. Public Health Service in the late '50s and a recipient of the Service's Career Development Award from 1967 to 1972. Much of the research undertaken in his department was made possible with four consecutive five-year Institutional Training Grants awarded to Dr. Bixler by the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR). As a faculty member in IU's Department of Medical Genetics, Dr. Bixler conducted genetic work-ups and counseled patients in the hospitals and then drew upon those experiences to build a teaching program for dentistry. Studies focusing on clefts of the lip and palate were the cornerstone of Dr. Bixler's research program. Data he recorded in the 1960s for geneticist Dr. Poul Fogh-Andersen during a year Dr. Bixler spent as a visiting professor at the Institute of Medial Genetics in Copenhagen, Denmark, led to a series of IU research papers advancing Dr. Fogh-Andersen's theory that a single gene was influencing the occurrence of clefts. In the late '60s, Dr. Bixler wrote about two sisters who exhibited an association of facial defects unique to the scientific literature at that time. Hypertelorism-microtiaclefting became known as HMC or Bixler syndrome. Only a few cases have since been reported in the world literature. Dr. Bixler is the author or co-author of 170 scientific articles and 14 textbook chapters. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Medical Genetics, a member of Theta Theta Chapter of Omicron Kappa Upsilon honor society, and a recipient of the IUSD Alumni Association's Distinguished Faculty Award for Research. For seven years, he edited the section on oral diseases of the Birth Defects Encyclopedia. He was the first president of the Society of Craniofacial Genetics. Dr. Bixler was veteran of the U.S. Army Air Force. He retired to Florida in 1994. David is survived by his loving wife, Dr. Gloria Bixler; children, David R. Bixler, Katherine Bedwell, R. Scott Bixler, Laurie Bixler, Brian Bixler, Michelle Harris; eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Visitation will be Monday, November 21 from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Shirley Brothers Fishers - Castleton Chapel, 9900 Allisonville Rd. with funeral services Tuesday, November 22 at 2:00 p.m. at Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, 418 E. 34th St. Memorial contributions may be made to the Indiana University Foundation, Dr. David Bixler Fund, co Pam Lovejoy, 1121 W. Michigan, Indianapolis, IN 46202.